


Revolutions

by Silits



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Drinking, Drugs, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Government Conspiracy, Government Corruption, Homophobia, Liquor, M/M, Revolution, Riots, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smoking, Teenagers, Violence, War, World War 3, government revolution, secret night clubs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:34:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7872619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silits/pseuds/Silits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What is there to fear?</p><p>It's the year 2143 and Shizuo heiwajima has heard the words over and over again, after landing himself and his family in every district there is. He himself had repeated those words, and now he sees just how wrong he had been.</p><p>Accidentally befriending some of <em>them</em>, a whole new world had opened to him. He saw the pain, the fear, and the bravery of those lurking in the shadows. </p><p>The warehouse that they all called their home, Shizuo learned new things he never knew about, beautiful things, but all these things came with a price. They were all in danger.</p><p> </p><p>There was something the government wasn't telling them. It screams danger, because they are in complete control of everything.</p><p>What is there not to fear?</p><p> </p><p>"War does not determine who is Right- only who is Left."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1 - Before the War

**Author's Note:**

> I finally get to post this on here yesssssss

Dedicated to all of you who are _different_.  


You are  Beautiful.

 

 

Sometimes, there aren't happy endings.

 

The planes that flew over the district scared its inhabitants, people running to take cover. For once, they were afraid. But amidst to everyone trying to take some sort of shelter, a certain teenager with black hair and pale skin ran the opposite way, running towards the danger. 'What is he thinking!?' Most people would think, while the blond just watched, frozen. He had heard from the other directly of what he was going to do, but he couldn't believe he was actually going through with it. He was going to get killed! He thought the other was joking about joining the battlefield, but there he was, facing danger head on. The battlefield was a joke, it had to be. Battlefield was just a term to go against the government, why is there a real battlefield? There is no war going on. 

The thing that scared the fake blond the most, was that his 'friend' wasn't the only one, there were others. Others he had met, some he knew, and some he didn't know at all, but they were all the same, they were just like him. And they were about to die. They were going up against a trained army! What the hell are they thinking! 

"God fucking damnit. Mother, father.... Kasuka, forgive me."

The blond knew he had to make up his mind, as he stood there, and he chose to follow the beautiful death angel. He started to run when he heard a loud 'bo-

"SHIZUO! Wake up, you'll be late!"

Shizuo woke with a start, cold sweat running down the sides of his forehead, breathing heavily, and eyes wide.

\---

August was when he was introduced to District 31, and the capital of Japan. Usually, it went by its name District 31, but rebels who hated the government would stick to Ikebukuro. This was his last chance. Who's last chance? Shizuo Heiwajima. The one many feared. And thanks to many cowards, he was at his final destination before he was put behind iron bars, in prison.

Last time it was a bit of a misunderstanding, but thanks to that, he was once again transferred. People usually don't get transferred to a different community, but since Shizuo was dangerous, he had to be transferred, for his 31th time. Shizuo could be put behind bars now, but he is a teenager, and the government wants as many educated people working. He was originally from District 24, but some things changed since he was in middle school.

It wasn't that hard to settle down, as long as you exclude the midnight visiting, and all the laws that have been broken by 'accident.' And although that this has to be the most advanced District he has been to so far, he no longer minded the distaste he had for all the technology and the fuck ass rules of this place. He never really expected to find himself in such messes, but he never got caught. One because of those sly fingers that would always help him out of things, and two, he was becoming less impulsive. But one thing is for sure, he wasn't sure if he liked those mischievous eyes that had got him to do such unlawful things, but, he seemed to trust them. In his book, he doesn't have to like someone to trust them, and that change is quite recent. 

Of coarse, this person wasn't abiding by any of the rules, at least during the night. During the day, they were so different, proper, quiet, and intelligent, but during the night, they did such things that made you wonder what was going on in their head. The way they dressed would be called disgraceful, and enough to label them a whore, even though they didn't show much. The community they lived in was normal to all of them, but back then, people would think that it is something to be ashamed of, or so he heard. The way things would run, the things people did, the things people were taught. And who knows, maybe in the future it may lighten up and become better, but many people doubted that. Well at least the people that disagreed with the government.

Because of that war years ago, everything changed so much. People changed, they morphed into something that can't be changed. The human race was disgusting. And the worst of all was the government that ran all the shit they were living in. Because of them, people were being rejected for who they are, what makes them unique. What make them, them. And many things are being looked down upon that used to be looked highly. The whole country was 'a piece of shit', as Shizuo would describe it. He said that it was shameful, the way humans live now, that they live in their own shit, and that their balls are so damn heavy to change the way the government was trying to change them into.

Education had changed, everything varying from sports to arts had all been taken out of school, and non of the parents had rejected. It was the damn government that was changing them by force. And it was sad, because only a small portion of humanity in Japan would go against the Japanese government. You would think, 'the yakuza', and although that is correct, they are a small portion of the ones that actually go against the government. The current government in Japan has been tracking down yakuzas, and killing them off. The only ones that would actually make an effort to overthrow the government, were the ones that were killed, the rest of the cowards were in hiding, sending their men to get their hands dirty and shot through the head. 

Now, the bigger picture of the rebels, were mostly teenagers. They all were looked down upon, and in fact, they were legally the lowest in the social triangle, but they technically didn't give a fuck. They always went against the law and would do the darnest things, but it was to show the officials that they weren't afraid of them. These rebels soon were labeled dissidents, because they never bowed down to official authority and would curse the governments anthem. But what the officials don't want to consider, that if they amend the law of not allowing arts and sports, maybe, just maybe the everyday riot would calm down a little. Just that little piece was taking away from a lot of people, and who they really are, pretend to be someone they aren't.

Like a poser.

Sometimes it's good to set aside the bad things, and think of the smaller picture. Parents still cared for their children, and there was still security in the community one lived in, and people would sometimes help each other, although not as much than two-hundred years ago. Parents may not spend much time with their children, but that was fine. Besides, not many children are really completely attached to their parents, as they leave for work early, and arrive home about and hour to half an hour before the districts curfew. Then again, teenagers weren't allowed to hang out with their friends much. With the districts curfew being 9:30, and if you are seen out of your home past that time, you will be arrested and questioned. And the only ones that did go outside past curfew, were the dissidents, no question.

The scenery of the community was too perfect, like it was all fake, a hologram, a programmed video game, but then again there were no more of those. But back to sameness. It was everywhere. Everyone was required to act intelligent and be diligent, and to fit in. Same with the adults. They were to work hard and be honest and be on time. It got boring after a while. It was all black in white, like the TV's when they first came out, black, grey and white. That was life, it was boring for the _normals_. But it was completely the opposite for the _different_. They truly know how to live, even if they were going against the law. They weren't just surviving, they were _living_.

Of coarse, there were the tall buildings, skyscrapers that would block the sun. There were long and 'improved' highways, pure white sidewalks, technology littering every unit of space in this advanced district. That was all the earth was becoming, it was ruling the young with the blue light that radiates off all the screens of phones and TV's. Even the school uses virtual books on tablets, the traditional way completely forgotten. And with all this technology, results many teens getting glasses than before, from all the blue light penetrating their eyes. It is so funny, that it is sad. The way Japan changed when there was that nasty war. But people lived 'happily', not knowing they were living a lie. And the so called 'retarded' and 'uneducated' ones are the true smart ones, knowing to stand, and not only were they intelligent, they had built abilities people nowadays didn't have, and they are brave to go against the law. Only if everyone else was like that...

Shizuo wouldn't call himself similar to others, but wouldn't quite categorize himself as different. He just wasn't the same. And with his strength, it just made him stand out more. That and the freakishly bleached hair. Shizuo didn't think it was that great, as in sameness, but he wasn't too thrilled about being different. At least, that was before his life had taken a wrong turn, but in the least, he was greatful that it did. Before, he thought that being different was a crime, just like it said in the Book of Rules, but now, he thinks otherwise. It's a gift to be different, to be unique, to stand out from others. To have haters and for other people to be jealous; that was humanity, not the 'shit' the government was striving for. But all the difference and uniqueness was being taken away from people, they were no longer special, and they no longer stood out. They were to be _disciplined_ .

He could get why children would obey. They were little and didn't understand quite yet, but hopefully they would be taught. 

Heiwajima always tried his best in academics, and even in math that he absolutely sucked at, and he tried to impress his family and not shame them because of his 'on-impulse' slips.  
Shizuo absolutely hated his strength, he loathed it, but he knew there was nothing he could do to change it. He was born that way, and it made him feel apart when he was little, everyone always being scared of him. It was strange. 

The little Heiwajima did make a friend though, and although through Internet, they stayed in touch. They would video chat and talk to each other as if they were friends. They never told each other of their districts since it was rule number 37 in the Book of Rules. It would come by as rude and disrespectful, but the other would say that he hoped to meet the other one day in real life, and that they could be friends and do friend things. But as they got older, they didn't talk much anymore, school getting harder and required more focus and attention. Once in a while, they would speak, but they never truly had real time, and that had saddened Shizuo, but he knew that it was part of life. It was bound to happen sooner or later. That or the other would become afraid of the other and never want to talk to him again, and Shizuo couldn't bare if that were to happen, even if the other was annoying sometimes.

As Shizuo moved from district to district, he felt more weight on his shoulders, and thought that he was putting his families name to shame. His younger brother, Kasuka would tell him otherwise, saying it was alright, and that he would love him no matter what. 

It went like that as years past, until the blond met with those burning eyes as the other ran in his direction, trying to get out of trouble. Their image was a blur, as they were a fast runner, only able to pull out a few features as the figure ran, knowing that if he ever saw the other again, he wouldn't be able to decipher that it was them back then. He hadn't payed much attention, and if he had, he may have been able to get himself out of the deep trouble he would soon be in. But that was alright, because life has a way of changing things for the better even when the world seemed to stop and riot strikes. It was just how the game of life worked, one that he was learning to play and become an expert at. Even if it means getting in trouble to obtain wisdom and to help the other, he would.


	2. Chapter 2 - Press Restart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "That's good to hear."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahahah, it's so hot I want a pool rn

_"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."_

Shizuo no longer saw the reason behind all this. He was done trying, stopped a while ago. As much as the idea tasted rotten on his tongue, he should just be deported or put behind bars. He was never going to stop pulling those 'on-impulse' movements. His parents would either get angry or yell at him whenever he said stuff like that, but it's was true, and you couldn't defy it. It was a strong conviction and he was quite unwavering about it. Kasuka - his younger brother - just tells him that he'll eventually learn to use his strength properly, but that was hard to believe.

The teenager had started hating his abilities more and more ever since that one incident when he was young. He was walking back from school when the place he loved the most to buy milk, he had an outrage. He had hurt the sweet, young milk lady, the one he un-doubtfully had a crush on. Shizuo had always been wary of himself, but when that happened, he was afraid that he would hurt more people that he cared about, even if he was trying to protect them. He had been curesed since birth with such ability, a ability many wished for.

Strength.

That word alone scared him. He hated it. Was was so special about it? What good would it do to him? 

Shizuo Heiwajima, the strongest man that you would probably meet. Currently the strongest man of Ikebukero. He had already heard the title, and hated it. It was the same thing as all the other times. They would always label him 'the strongest man of ....' It was stupid and unnecessary. 

The first day of the new school he was going to, dreaded him. Not only will he be a transfer student somewhat midway through the year, he was afraid that he would loose his temper to one of the nitwits there and put his family's name to shame..... again.  So as he walked through the courtyard of the school, cliché Sakura leaves falling from the beautiful trees, made everything feel like a dream. People were pouring in from the front gates and walking through, all laughing or talking to their friends. They were all normal people, they didn't have to deal with what Shizuo had to, so they didn't have to fear of hurting others as the playfully shoved each other and hit each other softly on the back laughing. 

It was awkward for him as he got to the front entrance and went to look for the foot locker that had been assigned to him. He just wanted for the bell to ring so he wouldn't have to stay standing awkwardly in a corner while everyone had someone to talk to. A specific group of guys, one was a raven, he was short and petite looking, two were brunettes, one was taller than all of them, hair pushed back, and the other he could only see from the back next to the smaller of all of them. The shorter had been laughing out loud, grabbing onto one the brunettes as the giggles shook his body. Just seeing the relationship between all of them was a bit intimidating. Shizuo wished he could have that. He knew he never would. If he had almost dropped a refrigerator on his little brother, he was defiantly going to be afraid becomeing good friends with guys like that to only hurt them.

Another group, which consisted of a blond boy, a black haired boy, and a black haired girl, also made him feel a bit intimidated. They were obviously in their first year -as Shizuo was in his second. A common question is the fake blonds mind was 'how do they do it?'.

Heiwajima knows the answer, he just doesn't like it, so he feigns ignorance, until someone, somewhere, will tell him something completely different, and something that doesn't make him feel like a complete monster. For fucks sake, he was always feeling like a monster, so if anyone could do that, the fucking damn apocalypse was fucking coming.  
So as Shizuo stood there, a bit awkward, he tried to zone out the laughs that the others shared with each other, the familiarity of friendship and other strong relationships, while Shizuo felt misplaced like a viral disease in the world.

Only then, when the bell rang, did he feel just a bit better. Just a tad. So as Shizuo walked through the halls, behind everyone who had scattered and broken up to go to their homerooms, did he realize- 

"For fucks sake. I should have toured the school when I had a chance." Shizuo continues to call himself names and smack himself in his head-if he would have done it he would be getting weird looks no?- as he walked around, lost, trying to find the room 'C3'. The merciful gods had been on his side, as he walked up some stairs randomly and walked into the third floor aimlessly had he found the room titled 'C3'. Wasn't he grateful when he found it, glad that he wouldn't have been late to homeroom, but the happiness was short lived as he entered the room, it was loud, people were throwing things-paper airplanes- and all of them seemed to have friends. 

He took the seat towards the back, it was second to last, third to the right. He had a brunette on one side, and another brunette on the other. The one on his left, a cheery loud girl taking to others, talking about quite a few things, and hoped to cleanse his ears about what she was talking about later, the second he got home; the other was a male, with glasses and was talking away. He looked a bit familiar but almost everyone looked familiar to Shizuo for some apparent reason, but then again, he has been to many districts seeing many different people. Some just remind him of others that is all.

When the teacher came in, everything stopped, everyone was respectful, and not a piece of paper was in sight. Not even the damn paper airplane that had poked him in the eye half a minute ago. Attendance went through and Shizuo had been glad that the teacher hadn't put much attention to him, until that was also short lived, and the teacher had called him out. 

"Attention C3, we have a new student. Our exchange student from District number... Eh..." The teacher trailed off as he looked through a few papers. Shizuo stood there, awkwardly as he fought the urge to rub the back of his neck, " District number t-twenty six!" Shizuo hated all the stares. He never liked attention. He hated it. It was obvious that everyone was waiting a hello from him and his name.

"Uuhhh.... Hi. The names Heiwajima Shizuo..."

He hated the stares.

"Tell us what you like to do." The teacher, which came to Shizuo's attention was Kishitani Sensei.

"I-I uhh... I.... I...." 

'Stop staring at me!' Shizuo could feel the annoyance growing inside of him.

"I don't really do much except look after my younger brother." Lame. He could read the damn word off everyone's faces. He gets its. He just wanted everyone to fuck off.

"Well, it nice to meet you!" That Kishitani Sensei was way too happy-go-lucky. Shizuo sat down quickly, looking down. This was not what he wanted. Not at all. He could still feel the stares even after he sat down.

'Stop staring at me!'

The ticking of the clock was going way to slow, 'hurry up', Shizuo grunted softly. The day had just started, and he already wanted to go home. He really couldn't take this. He wished he could be homeschooled, why couldn't he just do that. 

'Because only rich kids can afford that.' Shizuo answered his own question as he felt the need to slump all the way down in his chair. The blond glared at the back of the kid's head that sat in front of him, he didn't care if anyone saw him. He bet that the rumors had already started. Who cares, cause he didn't. Nope. Not anymore, he was done caring a long time ago and he wasn't going to start caring again because of some nasty rumors on his first day, except throw a kid across campus. That would get him a good earful from both the principle and his parents.

It wasn't until a whole minute did Shizuo realized he was being watched. He turned his head to the left to see the brunette girl looking at him with the rest of her friends, and weirdly enough the girls started giggling. He swore his eye twitched when one of the girls whispered something to another girl and they started giggling again. 

He had been kidding about the rumors on his first five minutes of homeroom, but no shit, they already started. Super fucking fantastic with a motherfucking red shiny cherry on top. 

"Go to hell." Shizuo murmured under his breath lowly. A whole slow minute until the bell rang and he got up with the others, and started leaving when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Of coarse, he had to deal with some retards already.

"Excuse me. Heiwajima-San!" The fake blond could feel a growl in his throat. " Heiwajima-San! Excuse me, Heiwajima-San~!"

"What." Shizuo finally growled, turning to look down at a brunette. The one that sat on his right to be exact. Even after he had snapped at him, the other continued smiling brightly. 

"Welcome to Raijin Acadamy! I'm Kishitani Shinra, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Oh flipping fantastic, this guy's dad was his homeroom teacher. 

A grunt escaped as Shizuo let himself slump just a bit. He really didn't want to deal with this shit this early in the morning. Just go away!

"Yea yea." Shizuo waved over his shoulder once he turned around and began to walk away, until he felt someone following him. "What do you want?" Really? Just go away already you parasite, before I squish you against the white crisp wall.

"I'll give you a tour later, you must be confused. Hey, we should be friends!"-wait what the fuck n-

"Li-"

"What class do you have?" That brick head didn't even let him speak. That dip shit.

"History. What does it matter to you?" 

A bright smile escaped from the shorter as he practically jumped up and down in most likely excitement. 'Wait. Don't fucking tell me-'

"I have Social Studies!" The latter must have seen his confusion because he clarified "history - same thing. Let's go!" 

'Fucking fantasti-'

The worst part was that the dip shit had the damn nerve to grab Shizuo and drag him down a flight of stares and down a hallway, to what most likely was B2, the His-Social Studies class. "This is the only history class here in the school, so you have to have my class. Ignore the teacher, he is a jerk. Hey you should sit here next to me, it's vacant. Well the occupant was moved to a higher class, cause he was 'to high class and smart for us nitwits-'" So there was a smart ass here, oh, lovely. " we get a pretty view from the courtyard, over there is the biggest Sakura tree in the school it's about-" he's still talking- "and it's pretty awesome you should try it out some time oh look it's K-" he's still talking-" oh and y-"

'Bla bla bla. Bla bla bla bla bla. Bla bla b-' Shizuo was too out of it to hear the sliding door practically slammed open, and let in a ugly looking teacher.

"ATTENTION!" If the fake blond was startled, than everyone had to be startled, but damn did that scare the fuck out of him. Dip Shit on the other hand was giggling.

"Told ya."

Oh for fucks sake-.

Class was hell, and it sucks because this teacher is the first thing Shizuo had to see practically- not to mention that he is like a fucking alarm clock and an asshole- and he had this guy from homeroom to this class, and some point during class he compared their schedules and Shizuo has a few classes with him in the morning, afternoon and gym together. Shizuo also has a class with this 'Kyohei' guy as well. He seemed to start talking about this other guy but immediately shut up and continued like he never just stopped suddenly. Shizuo got yelled at because someone threw some paper at him by accident trying to throw it to someone two seats away from him- and damn did he have bad aim- and he kept on throwing until Shizuo got yelled at. Shizuo! What the flipping duck fucks?

When class ended Dip Shit dragged him to their next class which was Health. The teacher was a woman and damn did she have big knockers. Shizuo swore all the guys were staring at them apart from Di- Shinra and himself. It's not like he didn't like women, he did, he really did, they were just too much for him. Shizuo began to run a thumb on his lower lip, a habit of his. It wasn't his fault. His hand just itched to do something, or hold something. His hand just had to be doing something. 

Since Shizuo was an exchange student, he missed half of this lesson already, and most likely from every other class.

Hours later was when he was rid of Dip Shit. He had directed him back to the third floor to their homeroom for his next class: Science. If that happy-go-lucky teacher was really Dip Shit's father, he was going to fucking loose it. He harrumphed as he walked into the class when the teacher decided to wave at him and welcome him in. The fucking nerve this guy had. Was he wearing a gas mask? The fuck? Had that guy worn that throughout homeroom?

Thanks to Shizuo tripping over a loose sheet of paper on the floor, he face planted and dropped the very few things he had, in which he was almost late and he had to take the only seat left available. The one third to last row all the way to left. He plopped down before the bell rang, resolving a grunt from him. 'For fucks sake...' That's all that has been going on through his head as his day proceeded. What else would he be thinking? He couldn't stand anyone, Dip Shit talks his ears off, almost literally, and he just wants to go home.

Half way through whatever lab they were doing, he noticed a small(petite?) guy at the other corner next to this purple haired girl but he didn't really see him well, because he just him a quick glance, and didn't look back. The raven looked like this other guy he had accidentally bumped into the hallway, a first year though, who reminded him of another guy that he once punched him across the campus, who reminded him of this other guy. Confusing, he knows. Welcome to Heiwajima's mind. Soon enough, he completely forgot about the raven in mismatched uniform to food. 

"When the fuck is lunch going to come around?" Shizuo groaned for about the umpteenth time since school started.

Thanks to the merciful gods once again, lunch came after science, so when he was about to sit down and eat, Dip Shit came and grabbed his wrist- really the nerve of this guy?-up to the roof. "The roof? Are we even allowed?" Shinra gave him a funny look but then smiled goofily.

"Yup! Why, your previous school didn't?" Dip Shit seemed confused. Were all schools supposed to let kids eat on the roof? Did he even ever knew if he could? Shizuo usually ate his lunch in the classroom.

"...no I guess." It was a few seconds until he could answer Dip Shit.

On the roof there was laughter, something Shizuo was never really able to participate in. Shizuo felt a bit intimidated again. 

"Kadota!" Shinra waved excessively at a male already eating by the fence around the roof. So that was that guy Dip Shit was talking about earlier. Once they got close, Shinra's grip on his wrist loosened and his hand dropped. He plopped down and motioned for Shizuo to do the same.

"Hey." Kadota said, waving a bit at him. "Names Kadota, Kyouhei." Like he didn't already know with Shinra yelling it out loudly and waving like a five year old at their best friend in grade school.

"Heiwajima, Shizuo." 

"Heard you were an exchange student. That doesn't happen often. Must feel weird." Shizuo just gave a shrug. 

"Not really."

They chatted for a while, random things, stupid things, and things he didn't even get. Dip Shit was reminding him of someone he knew at some point. He can't remember, but he acts just like them. It wasn't until Shinra spoke next that made a bit of tension in the group. Why he felt tension, he didn't know.

"Where's....?" 

Kadota seemed to catch on as he shrugged, taking another bite of his sandwich. There was a silent conversation in their exchanging looks that they gave eachother.

"Haven't seen him since third period, he just, left again." Kadota shrugged again and continued eating. Shinra sighed, pushing his glasses up.

"Doesn't matter if he's at the top, they could expel him if he doesn't stop pulling these kind of things." 

Shizuo stayed silent, he was confused, and he really didn't want to get involved in anything suspicious or with anyone who was troublesome. But as quick as the conversation came, it left, with Shinra starting to talk about 'his beloved Celty' and what not. Who the fuck was Celty anyway? An imaginary fucking headless horse rider who preyed on nerdish men in their second years of highschool?

"Here he goes again." Kadota looked like he was listening, but at the same time he looked like he was zoning out. Heiwajima looked at the brunette with glasses, and then leaned over to the other. 

"What is he talking about?"

"Who."

"Who? What?" Kadota seemed to laugh at Shizuo.

"His 'girlfriend'." At that the fake blond wanted to burst out laughing. Him? He had a girlfriend? Dip Shit had a lover? Was she blind or did she loose her head along with her brain like, what the actual fuck?

Shinra jumped up to take Shizuo back to class since they had this next class together. He talked Heiwajima's ear off again all away there, about some shit he couldn't possible care less about. It was all science and ecology, biology, and shit. Shinra reminded him of a crack Doctor, and if it weren't the odds, if that kid did turn out to be a crack Doctor, he would fucking shoot himself. Shinra looked a lot like their homeroom teacher, even though you couldn't really see the other guy's face. They acted the same, same last name; if they weren't related the universe was going to collapse because it was cursed with an older version of Dip Shit. Watch out, the apocalypse was coming.

By the time gym came around, Shizuo got his gym clothes and changed. It was just a red sweatshirt and sweatpants, with two white lines indicating 'second year students'. They went outside that day, and it was too hot. Worse part was that they were running the track. Another was Dip Shit wouldn't stop complaining and whining about the heat and the laps they would soon have to run and talking about how he would meet his lunch again. Ew.

A smile came to his face though when Shinra found someone in the crowd of another class. He started smiling and waving over at someone in the crowd. Heiwajima scanned the crowd, but didn't see Kadota, so it must've been another person. The smile soon left Shinra's face as the whistle blew to start the runs. His face was practically priceless as he ran next to Shizuo, who soon started falling behind. Shizuo rolled his eyes as the soon-to-be-Doctor tried to catch up, telling him to wait up. Heiwajima Shizuo can be nice sometimes, he swears, so he slowed down his pace so the other could catch up. 

"You... r-run a... a lot don't you?" Shinra spoke between pants. Sweat was already running down his forehead and the sides of his face, that was becoming a bit too pale to be healthy. Hopefully neither would meet Shinra's bento again. Shizuo scratched the back of his neck a bit with a sheepish wary smile.

"Sure. Something like that." A nervous laugh punctuated the end of his sentence as they continued to jog. 

"O-oh."

There was silence for a bit. Just the sound of their feet hitting the track and the screaming and yelling of the class on the grass, playing som game and this other class playing some agility endurance game in the sand, the same group Shinra had been waving at someone before. Shizuo wasn't the one to pried into others lives, so he didn't really try to find the person who Shinra was waving at. Probably just an acquaintance, not even a friend. 

Thanks to the silence, Shizuo was able to process the day in his head. He actually expected worse to be honest. He though today would be the crappiest day ever. It always ended up like that. When he transfers, he expects a crappy day at at school entering somewhere in the year that wasn't the beginning, but it ends up being a relatively good day. Though today seemed better than all those other 30 times. Like, he kind of made two friends, one being annoying and another was pretty peaceful. He had gone throughout the day without yelling or throwing the desk at someone, and he didn't swear anyone. Well, at least not verbally. It was the end of the day, and he would soon be able to go home and on the way there he would pick up his brother, they would do their homework together and drink some milk while they are at it, and then do whatever they do after that. Yup, defiantly a good day. Now he just had to finish the left quarter mile he had and he'll be done. That's it, as long as he doesn't have to drag Shinra back to the locker room and showers after this.

 

Kadota was there as Shinra and him approached to change. They both engaged into a conversation that he wasn't listening to as he changed. It didn't even seem all that important so it doesn't matter. He was still thinking about his day when he was pulled out of his reverie by Kadota as Shinra was waiting by the door. He had that goofy smile on his face again, but he ignored it. It was the end of the day, he would soon be free and able to spend time with his brother and go home.

They walked through the courtyard together, before they had to separate. 

"You staying?" Shinra had asked Kadota once he and Shizuo were going to turn left to go home. 

"Waiting for the 'God'." Shinra cracked up at that. 

"Alright. Tell him I said hello." 

With a simple nod, they were off. As they both walked Dip Shit started talking about this 'beloved' of his again, but Shizuo just zoned him out. He didn't really feel like listening to that, he wasn't the one for love, he wasn't even good at it. He would hurt the one he loved so it was useless to him, and people talking about it kind of made him feel worse about it, so he just decided to zone him out in the end.

They both went their ways after. Shizuo picked up his brother and they walked home together.  
Kasuka started talking about his first day, and it sounded pretty good to him. He wasn't molested about going into class half way through the year, so Shizuo was okay. 

That was another thing. Shizuo hated moving because his brother would have to leave his friends behind just for him, and move to a totally different district and start all over again. He could care less about himself, he cared about his family. Not only did his brother have to completely adjust, but so did his parents. He felt horrible, but his parents said it was alright, as long as they still had him it was okay. It didn't seem so. So as they walked home together side by side, he made a promise to himself that he wouldn't land behind bars for his family. He would change his ways. 

"That's good to hear."


	3. Chapter 3 - Orihara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wound me Shizuo! I thought you would have remembered by now. Especially with that unique name of mine and my beloved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to upload all the chapters up to date. Then the wait for the rest of the chapters will begin *=*

_"We all have our ups and downs, but there is a path that leads to your heart, and who you are. Embrace it."_

The mechanisms in the small white device was now scattered all around the room, the bed, and in Shizuo's bed hair. The what-it-was-supposed-to-be alarm clock was crushed on the bedside table by the faux blond's bed, a heavy big hand on top of the dead device, that was now crushed by the sudden force of what was Shizuo's hand. The rest of the body was in rustled sheets, only a mop of bleached hair sticking out from the edge, the only thing of his body in sight apart from his bare arm. An annoyed grunt echoed off the still half empty room, as the family currently occupying the house haven't fully moved in. The sunlight assaulted the blond's eyes as he took off the bed covers from his face. The next deep noise could only be described as a growl. The heavy pads caused by heavy feet made the floorboards creek a little, signaling anyone in the house that he was now awake and up. The hallway was a bit chilly as the blond opened his bedroom door, walking over to the bathroom across the hall that already contained his folded uniform and whatnot.

The face in the mirror contained red marks from blankets and pillows, very messy blond hair, and an annoyed looking gaze staring right back. With a huff, Shizuo turned on the cold water and splashed some on his face, hissing when the cold water hit his warm face. A good face washing later the blond grabbed his uniform and started putting it on, as he only slept in boxers and occasionally a t-shirt and sweat pants. The blue uniform was a bit wrinkled but Heiwajima couldn't bring himself to give a flying fuck about it. Hair combing contained only using his hands a few ways here and there, but truth to be told, that only made it worse.

The socks on his no longer bare feet didn't help with the creaking of the stairs, as the older Heiwajima offspring walked down the stairs into the brightly lit living room-slash- kitchen. Kasuka was already waiting at the table, uniform on and hair neatly combed hair in contrast to wrinkled uniform and messy bleached hair of his older brother. His mother, Namiko, was in the kitchen working on the stove, apron on top of her business work blazer and pants. The aroma that hits Shizuo informs that it is egg omelet for breakfast. 

" 'ning." Shizuo says lowly by loud enough for his mother to hear over the grease popping.

"It's 'morning', dear." His mother tells him back and laughs a bit. Shizuo has a habit of cutting words off half way. 

"Mmm." 

Kasuka looks up when he hears the chair in front of him be pulled back and a flash of yellow was seen in his peripheral. It was the typical morning at the Heiwajima residence, even in a different district, it was all the same. 

Shizuo's father had already left and his mother had to go, as she was called in a bit early, so she barely even ate half her breakfast as she rushed out. It was only the two brothers as they had gotten up and put their dishes in the sink and went up to brush their teeth, and after Kasuka took care of Shizuo's hair that was fit for a momma bird to lay eggs in - though it was still quite messy afterwards.  
The walk to school was silent, but not awkwardly silent, just silent. The sound of teenagers screaming across the road on the other side of the street made the older Heiwajima look up. A bunch of girls and guys walked in a big group, and he heard on of the guys yell out something, causing everyone to laugh in the group. The laugher of a certain individual made it all seem comical, as the raven bended over, his arms holding his stomach. Someone said something else that seemed to be pointing at a girl in the group making her go beat red. This made the raven laugh harder. The raven wasn't even wearing the school uniform, a black and red scheme, as the others wore the typical blue and white scheme. That guy was looking for a real mouth full. 

Shizuo was brought back down from his thoughts as he felt a tug on his sleeve. He realized they were in front of the elementary school gates and he waved and watched as his brother walked away. Once Kasuka was inside, he walked off, in the direction of his school, not exactly excited for another day with Dip Shit. Shitty first period history teacher, was not something he wanted this early in the morning, and seeing Kishitani Sensei with that weird gas mask on would give him a headache, just like most-likely-his-son: Dip Shit.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

He was not happy seeing the front gates.

Nope.

"HEIWAJIMA-SAN!" Fucking fuck, flying fucks kill him right now. 

'I shit you not, this guy is going to end up with a few less teeth than he exited his home this morning.' 

Fucking four eyes was running up to him, making other students give way for the crazed soon-to-be-crack-doctor. Shizuo just turned on his heel and pretended that he didn't know that sucker. Nope. Don't know him. Fuck off. Fuck off. Not now.

Fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off f-

"SHIZUO!" Four limbs were attached to the faux blond, almost taking them down if it weren't for the in instinct step toward Shizuo took to settle both off them before they had the chance to hit the concrete floor. A vain practically popped out of Shizuo's forehead as he grabbed Shinra's shirt by the back and flung him down on the concrete. Surprisingly, there were no cracks. That or Shinra's sprawled out body was coving all of them. "Ow." Was the only thing the bi-spectacled teenager could say, as he slowly sat up, running his lower back with a pout, the back of his hair sticking in all these weird directions now. Either it was the blow, or the guy didn't even bother to brush his hair, but he couldn't blame him, his hair is ten times worse than the brunette's that was on the floor still whining about the flip over. "Be more careful Shizuo, that hurt!" The brown eyed maniac whined and Shizuo wanted to smack his body back down, but this time into the concrete, but he couldn't do that, he would be taken to the principles office. He can't do any of that now, he couldn't disgrace his family's name and he didn't want them to live in shame. Even though this guy deserved it, he couldn't do it.

"Go away." Shizuo had just said to the teen on the ground, walking away to the front of the building towards the lockers to change out of his outside shoes. He really hoped that that would keep the other away, but nope, there he was, following him, with that big goofy smile on his face like he hadn't been flung by the taller blond male just a few seconds ago. There couldn't be another person with an even more annoying smile that Dip Shit's, right? Right? 

"Ne, Shizuo. That was mean. That hurt you know? I'll have a bruise and my beloved would have to see it on my perfect s-" Shizuo had pushed Shinra by the shoulder into the locker's side as he was walking into an isle, leaving his friend practically glued face first into the blue containers. Shizuo bet that there would be an outline of the others glasses on his face, that, would be funny. Shinra came around the curve, calling out to Shizuo, a little uneasy on his feet, and he was just regaining his footing when a girls butt jutted out and hit his side, making him actually topple over to the side, and with that, Shizuo erupted in laughter, his laugh low and gruff and loud. That brought attention to the tall faux blond, something the other hated very much, making him shut up and turn back to the side to continue changing into his inside shoes, embarrassment dusting his face slowly across his cheeks. "Are you blushing?" The older teenager jumped, almost sending a smack in Shinra's direction, but stopped seeing the red outline of where his glasses had dug into the brunette's own face, almost making Shizuo burst out laughing again. With a cough, he covered the humor of his and closed his locker, turning to look at Shinra in the eye, biting his lower lip, trying to pretend that the hilarious red marks weren't on the others face. 

In Shizuo's peripheral, he could see a black figure running in his direction, an got ready to punch, but the small figure stopped in back of Shinra, hiding his figure and the locker by Shinra's head opened, smacking the brunette's head. The others shoes were changed in a matter of seconds, and the locker closed, and the other ran off, leaving Shinra gripping his head, tears at the corners of his eyes, without even saying sorry or a second look.

"That wasn't very nice Ori-"

"Asshole." That foul mouth of his. 

Shinra had smiled at that moment, started to say something but multiple voices rang out through the locker room, making it go quiet, some girls squeaking as some guys pushed them out of the way.

"ORIHARA! YOU ASSHOLE!" Nope, at least Shizuo wouldn't scream a curse at the top of his lungs in a school. These guys were begging to be suspended big time. The males had run past Shinra and him, going up the stairs the other had just run up gracefully just seconds before. A crash and a yell of a faculty member was followed, and probably more yelling, but from the other guys. 

"He's always getting himself into things he shouldn't..." Shinra had muttered under his breath, head hanging low, hands fiddling with the edge of the standard blue school uniform of theirs.

"What?" Shizuo interjected the others thoughts, causing the other to jump. 

"Oh, nothing."

A tap on Shinra's shoulder made both of their attentions turn to Kyouhei, who was standing casually slumped, hands in his pockets, eyes that seemed like he was ready to scold someone. "You saw that? That was what I was talking about before. His pretty little ass is going to get expelled." Kyouhei had just said casually, eyes fiercely on Shinra's though said otherwise of his posture.

"What?" Shizuo asked again.

"Oh, Nothing." Both of them said at the same time, not looking in his direction. Shizuo couldn't help but feel like he as being left in the dark of something, like they were talking about something he shouldn't know, something that he wouldn't want to know about anyways. If these two were involved with illegal things along with the other short figure that had just run past, this wasn't the best place to be. Especially if Heiwajima wanted to keep out of trouble with the District Police and the court. This seemed like such a calm place, looks could deceive though, right? Besides, those two didn't look like they could be involved with such dirty things, especially Shinra, he looked too 'pure' to do such, and Kadota was a cool guy, he didn't seem to have any interest in that kind of shit. At least, that was all Shizuo could see from the outside, but didn't know what the inside contained. He didn't know them that long to know what exactly what was running through in their heads, it would be impossible to do that this early on in this kind of friendship that they all shared for each other. Besides, they didn't know just exactly who Heiwajima Shizuo is either, they didn't know him at all. Here are these two innocent young people, messing around with a time bomb, they were so close to something so treacherous, something that could blow any minute in their face with the wrong move. They were hanging out with the wrong person here. Shizuo didn't deserve any of this, and non of them deserved to be in such close proximity to danger.

"What the fuck?" What the hell were they talking about. 

"We should get going, or we'll be late." They just evaded the question. The bell hadn't even rang, what were they uncomfortable about? Shizuo felt a hand a hand grab him by the shoulder and trying to pull him, in which he didn't even move a centimeter. Just having Dip Shit trying to move him and not succeeding made Shizuo resent just a little bit, and let the soon-to-be-crack-doctor 'drag' him away from the casual Kadota, not giving a single flying fuck.

"Where are we going." It wasn't a question, it was more like a command to know. 

"Homeroom!"

////

'The school day was pretty much ass.' Shizuo thought as he was walking out of his class, ready to eat and satisfy his growling stomach. His mother had made bento for him again, when she could have been making breakfast, and in which she could have eaten more than half of her omelet even with that early call for her to come in earlier than she was supposed to go. So in other words, the older Heiwajima was grateful of his mother taking time to make Kasuka's and his bento. His mother was also a good cook, which added to the greatness of the food he was going to eat. There was yelling from the top of the stairs he was climbing, as they echoed off the walls and the slam of the ceiling door and distant running of steps down the stairs made him get pulled from his thoughts. Shizuo didn't see anyone, until he heard a loud smack on the staircase under him, making him realize the other person must have jumped off. Talk about a strong suicide wish. 

Looking over the railing, there was only a black blurr of clothes and more running down the stairs. What the hell? Did the guy really have to go to the bathroom that bad or something? When Shizuo pushed the door opened, he grimaced at all the sunshine hitting and penetrating his irises at the same time. 

"Shit." Shizuo squinted and used a hand to try and block the sun that was starring right at him in the cloudless sky, like as if it were mocking him for some stupid thing he had done. That damn sun, if it could have a face, Shizuo bet it would have a fucking rape face because it just loves blinding people through out the day like a troll he never knew existed. 

"Heiwajima-San~!" Dip Shit sang, waving a hand like crazy just like the day before, making some of the students look at him and then up at Shizuo. 

"Great." With his bento box in hand, he moved over, dodging some groups of guys and girls sitting on the ground and by the fence. Shinra chose a spot far away, but at least it was still in sight of the door. As long as they weren't that far, he wouldn't mind. The closer he got, he realized that Kyouhei wasn't there. Once he sat down and opened his lunch and juice box, he balanced himself with both hands behind him, leaning his head back and basking in the sun. 

"Where's....?" Shizuo didn't even have to finish the sentence, for Shinra gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"Went to the vending machine to buy a juice box." Shinra said, once he swallowed the food in his mouth, making a satisfied hum.

"Oh." Shizuo sat up and took a drink of his own juice box that was opened, " Was that him that I saw jumping off the staircase before?" If it was, Kyouhei was crazy. 

Shinra looked up at him through his bangs, the sun catching on his glasses, once again blinding Shizuo. That damned sun. If Shizuo could throw something at it, he would. Be it car, light post, sign, or Shinra, but damn. 

"No. That was 'The God'." Shinra joked and then started laughing, choking on the juice he was drinking, making him sputter and cough. He still couldn't stop laughing even after that. 

"The who what?" 

"'The God'. You know, the 'crazy-hot-yet-annoying-asshole' guy." Oh great, so there was one of those guys in this school. Shizuo doesn't even know him and he doesn't already like him. He will punch the guys face in when he meets him. "He's part of the squad!" At that Shizuo almost swallowed the food in his mouth without chewing, almost having the same accident as Shinra just a few seconds prior. 

"Wait, the guy that slammed his locker door onto your head?" Shinra nodded, stuffing some rice into his mouth. 

"Yup! We tried to avoid talking about him to you. You know, with you having that crazy strength of yours." Oops, this time Shizuo actually did swallow the un-chewed food. Shinra watched with amusement, smiling as Shizuo glared at him. 

"How the fuck? How do you-!?" Shinra didn't even flinch, but seemed to start feigning hurt as he put a hand on his chest where his heart was, and pretended to wipe a tear of his face. 

"You wound me Shizuo! I thought you would have remembered by now. Especially with that unique name of mine and my beloved." Heats fucking popped in Shinra's eyes at that moment.

Suspicion crawled on Shizuo's skin like shadows, eyes piercing the other, wanting a respectful answer at his knowing. He hasn't destroyed anything yet, with him keeping his anger in check in the moment. How the hell did this Dip Shit know about that. He wouldn't get an answer from the other, and the rest of the day dragged on like that, without an answer from the framed freak. It made Shizuo rage, but he didn't send anyone flying through the campus at least. He knew better than to do something like that, he couldn't do that again, unless he wanted to be behind iron bars for the rest of his life, despite his age. The government wouldn't give a fuck about his age, and because he violated a rule, he was to be put behind those nasty iron filth, when he has such a long life ahead of him, and to be spent in that filth with others that were true criminals to the districts.

Physical education was the same, they ran again, but it was cooler, so it wasn't a bother to Shizuo. He just wanted to leave, and ponder the idea of Shinra knowing, and possibly Kyohei as well. When he did get back to the foot lockers, Shinra wasn't in sight, and neither was Kyouhei, and even when he waited for them, it only occurred that they might have already left, even without Shizuo knowing. It was against the rules to leave before the bell, so where had they gone? Were they staying for a school project? Shizuo couldn't care now, he had to go pick up Kasuka and head home. Despite not having much homework, he wanted to get it done, and wanted a glass of milk to sooth him. Maybe going out to the park after that would be nice. 

When Shizuo met Kasuka at the gates of his school, they walked and talked about their day, but Kasuka mostly spoke, filling in the silence here and there. Teenagers poured from shops, conversing, but none of the groups were like the one he saw early in the morning. They probably got shushed from the district police as you aren't allowed to be loud that early in the morning, even though everyone would be awake. 

During the walk home, there was shouting further down the sidewalk, and it was apparent that someone was running away from something. A black blur ran in his direction, Shizuo was barely able to pull his brother and himself away. The stranger brushed shoulders as they ran, with two District Polices behind them, yelling at them to stop, and soon the whole scene was gone as everyone went back to 'normal'. 

"Well someone is in trouble." There was no denying that that guy would serve a day in jail for disobeying Police orders. Sucks to be them. 

Back at the Heiwajima household, the two went to the living room, and they both dove into the kotatsu, the heater warming their bare feet. Their homework was easy, so Shizuo fixed some instant ramen - in which he is very good at - and they both ate, wanting to be full before they went out for a trip to the park for some fresh air and some sunshine. The recipe for soothing he human mind, Shizuo remembered from Heath class one year. That was what Shizuo needed, he was a bit nervous about Shinra knowing about his strength, and if he would do anything to trigger him to use it against him or others. Shizuo really hoped Shinra wasn't that kind of person, or he was definatly screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter a couple hundred words short. Oops. Sorry.


	4. Teenagers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We'll be seeing more of each other."

The thump of Shizuo walking into a wall early in the morning could be heard throughout the non-soundproof walls. Faint cursing could be heard from downstairs, as Mrs. and Mr. Heiwajima were downstairs eating breakfast, getting ready for work. The unsanitary words leaving their older son's mouth made the older male sign, knowing full well that that dirty mouth of the blond was one reason his son was getting into trouble at school. If only he could learn to hold that tongue of his...

Creaking of the mahogany floor boards layed out throughout the house could be heard, a certain mop of bleached hair popping from behind the random column in their house, walking like a zombie, a tired face still quite noticeable, just like the red lines of the sheets that were previously pressed into his slightly tan skin. Droopy mocha eyes landed on two adults, eyeing him, like as if questioning his presence.

"Dear? Why are you up?" Namiko, Shizuo's mother, asked. Shizuo just gave them both a confused- or at least what he though was a confused - expression, his mind not really working, the gears not yet turning in his morning hazed mind. He could barely even change into his uniform, putting on his pants backwards with all the little attention he was putting on his dressing up routine. 

A quick glance to the clock on the wall and back at his parents, Shizuo brought his hands up to continue rubbing off the very apparent sleep still lingering in his mocha orbs. Realization still not hitting him, though.

"It's 6:45." 

"On the weekend." 

"What? It's Wednesday."

"It's Saturday."

Shizuo didn't believe his father when he said it was Saturday. His gaze fell on the calendar by the counter and looked at the days, also lost in the dates.

"It's the twenty-fifth." Mocha eyes fell on the word 'August', then traveled down to the number twenty-five. The same eyes traveled up the column to settle along the word in bold:

**SATURDAY.**

"Oh for fucks sake!" The faux blond collided his head with the wall in front of him, surprisingly not making a whole in it as well. His parents words of telling him to be quieter fell upon deaf ears, as his mind kept on throwing insults and taunts back at himself, where he quietly accepted them. A groan and a shuffle of feet later, Shizuo was walking into the kitchen, making himself some shitty cereal, and sitting down at the table with two pairs of dark brown eyes stared at him. The little war inside his head came to an abrupt stop as Shizuo felt a soft delicate hand land into his bleached strands. As quickly as he felt the touch, it was gone. The hand that he felt earlier was from his mother, who walked into the kitchen to wash the dishes, a soft smile caressing her soft features. 

"It's okay Shizuo-kun. More time to spend with your brother, no?" With the mention of his brother, Shizuo whipped his head to his mothers direction. The mention of his brother had gained his interest. The both of them could spend time together, but Kaduka woke up around nine on the weekends, and it was six-fifty now. 

"That's in two hours- when Kasuka wakes up I mean. I think I'm just going to go back to sleep after." The trudge to Shizuo's room came with a long grunt while walking up the stairs after eating his said 'early breakfast'. Eyes full of annoyance and walk of a zombie, Shizuo got to the top of the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom, the door wide open, calling for him. The whole time, Shizuo's thoughts racing.

'I thought I started on a Monday? What the fuck? It's only been two days and I'm going to smack some bitches.'

A louder groan mimicking an animal sounded as Shizuo went face first into his bedding. Staying like made the morning sun rays showing through the white crisp blinds hitting his back started to make the faux blond to sweat. Even like that, he stayed, stomach down, the only movement from his head, propping it up on a bump of his blanket, gazing the patches of blue that could be seen through the cracks of his blinds. The sky, blue and crisp as ever, pure as it could ever be. It looked fake, it gave it a surreal look into his boring yet fucked up life. Eyes shined with yellow light from outside, making his mocha eyes seem lighter, brighter. The glaze of tiredness completely washed off, awareness taking its place in the soft eyes, eyes that belonged to a human, a young male with such inhuman and supernatural strength, but eyes that also belonged to a soft, sweet child, from a completely normal family, loved and cared for just right.

Said blond teenager stayed in that position, back now glazed with a thin sheet of sweat, eyes staring out at the life outside his window, even after the sound of a 'I love you' and a close of the front door that two sets of foots exited out of. The little house that now belonged to the Heiwajima's was still, silent, and a bit cold. The warmth on Shizuo's back pushed the chills away, the birds outside fighting the silence inside, and the breathing of the eldest sibling defeated the stillness. Shizuo was a living thing, he wasn't a toy to be getting angry and causing trouble. He had feelings, the blinding red in his vision when he got angry was part of him, people pissing him off just happened to mess with the wrong person at the wrong time. Shizuo might not exactly felt every pain inflicted on him, but his body reacted nonetheless, so it was annoying that people took him for granted as combat practice. 

After a while, soft shuffling could be heard, and the Heiwajima was turned to his back, blue school uniform jacket on the floor, top few buttons of the white button-up shirt unbuttoned. Boredom swirled in his soft orbs, arms reaching up over his head, legs stretching down, and loud roar ripped from his chest, shaking off the rest of the laziness left in his system. Settling back down, yawn escaping, he sat up, going over to his wardrobe and opened a drawer. It was littered with button up shirts Shizuo completely despised, and some long sleeved shirts cut up to make up what some people called 'T-shirts', as those aren't sold anymore and was against everything students learned at school. He personally doesn't like to break the rules but it's either a long sleeved shirt or no shirt on a warmish-chillyish night. The grumbling only became more frequent as he pulled out a light blue button up and some black dress pants, which were also not his most favorite thing in the word but every other male teenager had to wear it, so he guessed it was fair. 

Already in the set change of clothes, the Raijin uniform was thrown to the floor by his desk carelessly. Eh, he had to clean his room anyways.

Rolling the sleeves up to the length that was allowed for males, Shizuo put on the watch that his father had given him some time when he was younger, not exactly remembering the occasion. The 'standard uniform' of daily wear was annoying and he sometimes wanted to shove it up a District officers ass. He wasn't the guy for formality, but damn, he just _had_ to be born in a time period of such strictness. Just saying something against the government in which a loyalist of the ruling or an officer hears you, your ass is done for and who knows if you'll be seen again. Grabbing a sticky note, Shizuo issues the few words on the colored piece of paper to his younger brother.

_Out to buy groceries  
-SH_

The words were scribbled, not much thought put into them as the older sibling was in the process of making a mental list of the things he needed to buy. A white envelope puffed up slightly was also left on the counter, but this one Shizuo didn't leave. The fake blond's mother knew him just enough to leave money for him, predicting he was going to go out to the market a few blocks away from their house as he woke up a bit too early. Flipping the envelope, in neat handwriting wrote 'The early bird gets the worm!' Shizuo scoffed and rolled his eyes. He took out the money out of the clean white paper container and put it in his wallet that contained his school ID he happened to get just yesterday in the mail.

Going outside was a bit harder for Shizuo, as it was warmer than usual, meaning one thing.

Rain.

Clicking his tongue in disgust, he began to walk, hands shoved into his pant pockets, his messy hair that wasn't touched just got ruffled up by the wind even more, which was one reason Shizuo learned to not give a fuck. His teeth was brushed and he smelled perfectly fine, so that made up for his hairs awkward yet slight disrespectful look. 

The girls on the other side of the street wore their regular long skirts, the ones that were supposed to hide their ankles for district manners. They wore loose blouses, and their hair up in some ponytails or decorative hairstyle. Simple, as always. The sight of polished heels could be seen every other step, there being a bounce in the girls steps. The girls held bags full of ingredients, something white and long sticking out of their mouths as they laughed, something that could be only called a 'mint on a stick'. They were weird things. The red and white scheme of the small circular things on a sturdy stick, in which Shizuo remembers one of the Dissidents back at his old school claim it was a 'sugar free' lollipop and the government was just covering it up. Everybody would scoff at him, even Shizuo, but there had probably been some truth in those words. 

Three girls of high status just continued to talk, their snotty laughter ringing in Shizuo's 'peasant' ears. They turned down a street, one that went down right through Downtown, the big skyscrapers already could be seen by the path Shizuo was taking. The crystal white sidewalks in contrast to the big crystal glass buildings he was walking next to. Business men and woman walked around, Bluetooth in their ears, making trades that should just be made in a conference room, meetings taking place everywhere as the buzz of talk was louder here than anywhere else in the district. Even louder then Shizuo's thoughts.

The shopping district was full of high status women, idle chatter and laughter in the clothing shops and hair stylists salons, some men goofing around on the roof as they always do. The market was at the end, a little more stretch for Shizuo to walk as he was starting to feel laziness take over him. 

"Fucking fantastic." 

Showing the employee his Student ID was annoying as well, as the dude started rambling about how he graduated there not that long ago from there himself. Shizuo was not one of small talk, and besides, what other school was there? He knew there was two middle schools, but there was only one high school in District 31. Of coarse he would have graduated from Raijin, what the fuck? 

Although the city was all high tech, the market was out in the open, it had booths that sold their products. People so called 'farmers' would come from the fields outside of the districts and sell their things in the market, as there was no space to grow produce inside the walls. It was more crowded than other markets Shizuo has been to. The last time he was here was a few days before he started going to school. It had seemed more vacant then, but it could have just been the time of day he had gone with his brother, _after_ having a little fuss with an employee as he didn't have his Student ID back then. It was a bit annoying to be pushed when trying to shop for food, but Shizuo had to keep his chill, he didn't want to go to court again, that was the WORST experience in his entire life. He hated those places, and he wasn't going back, he was going to keep himself in check, he had to, or behind bars he goes.

He was by the tomatoes and potatoes when he heard the voice. That sickly annoying voice. 

"SHIZUO-SAN!" The voice rang throughout the stalls, making a visible vein on the blonds temple pop. Hands on his shoulder caused Shizuo to whirl around and smack the person behind him with the bag he was holding, causing the teenager to fall back first into the concrete under them. 

" _What_." Shizuo asked, nope, demanded between clenched teeth. Looking up he saw Kadota who was looking down at the crushed Dip Shit between them unamused. Face clearly casting the 'you-deserved-that' look. The groan that reached the other two male teenagers was pathetic, a faint 'ow' also shared. Four eyes got up and smiled that goofy grin of his like as if nothing before had happened, the smack had simply been an 'accident' on Shizuo's part and just happened to hit him, the one who was touching him. He didn't even seem to care, it was like he actually forgot all about the loud sounding 'whack' and a crunch of a body hitting the concrete a little harder than normal. Shizuo had a guess as to why though, and it made his blood freeze.

"Hi! Whatcha doing later? Are you cooking? Where is your younger brother? Wait if your cooking, what are you cooking? He-" a hand over the intrusive mouth from Kyohei and a simple sorry from him made up for the annoying Dip Shit. Flailing hands almost smacked Shizuo over the nose if it weren't for the quick reflex he had built over the years. 

"So, how come you two are here?" Shizuo completely ignored the shorter brunette and focused on the taller one. 

"Oh uh..." He scratched the back of his neck that looked a bit nervous, "a friend of ours is hungry and he's a bit lazy to come in himself." He simply shrugged it off like it weren't a big deal.

"Phmor liphk cauffing trahpble." Shinra interjected.

Kyohei let the soon-to-be-crack-doctor go. With a huff, he dusted off the non existent dust from his clothes. It was then Shizuo noted that the other two weren't exactly as formal as he was. Kyohei wore a green jacket with some type of black pants and brown shoes, a weird black hat sitting on the others head, hiding his hair. Shinra was, well, Shinra. A button up shirt with a tie, black dress pants with a belt holding his pants high, black shoes, and a lab coat hanging from his shoulders. From the two though, Shinra looked more, oh, maybe, formal in a weird way. Weren't they afraid of getting into trouble because they weren't wearing the right stuff?

"Where you guys headed? You look like your going to one of those clubs." Yes, talking about the Nite Krawlers was a bit too much out in public, but it was too loud where they were so it didn't matter. Besides, it wasn't like Shizuo was into that, and he wasn't about to start, he was trying to stay away from prison, not trying to land in it. 

"HAH?!" Shinra's arms once again started flailing, nonsense started spewing from his mouth eyes wide, cheeks pink from embarrassment. That piece of shit was causing a big commotion. An annoyed sigh escaped from the blond. He only went to the market so he could cook, not to get into trouble because this bi-spectacled friend of his would cause a huge ruckus because of a little joke he said.

The place was getting a little more crowded and Shizuo had planned for a quick trip to the market and head back home before his brother woke up, as he did lay on his bed for quite awhile. And out of all the times in the world, Shinra just _had_ to show up now. It's not like he didn't like him, it's just he was wasting his time, and he still hasn't half way done with his shopping, and he was in a tight schedule on trying to make it back to his house when his brother wakes up. It's like his mother always said 'you can't hang out the whole day if you aren't there the second he wakes up.' It was said as a joke, he knows, but that couldn't be anymore truer.

Distant rumbling no longer an echo as Shizuo came back to earth, seeing Shinra desperately trying to inform Shizuo they weren't _those_ kind of people. It was obviously not taken as lightly as a joke as Shizuo had intended so he gave a slight wave of his hand calling it off, obviously already having enough of Shinra's babble. It was not healthy to be this close to idiocy, Shizuo noted in his head. 

The chitchat was cut a bit earlier than the blond had expected. Apparently a girl on Kadota's phone nicknamed 'yaoilover' (though Shinra preferred to use BLbitch) said they were taking to long and that she was getting too hot in the warehouse she was at (and in which Shizuo thought was wierd). Their friend also seemed to be getting impatient and they had to leave or they would have their asses kicked by the van group and the bossy one outside. Shizuo hadn't even really been paying attention after Shinra was talking about the warehouse and was spacing out, daydreaming about kicking Shinra's ass out already as his voice was too annoying for actual comfort. The three exchanged goodbyes, quick and simple. Shinra took off spewing more nonsense as they went deeper into the market to find whatever they were looking for, while Kadota just walked with his hands in his pockets. Quite a contrast to Shinra and his flailing doctors coat everywhere. Shizuo being the nice person he is, felt bad for Kadota and sent a short prayer for him since he had to deal with the little shit and other impatient brats. How he got caught up with people like that, Shizuo didn't know, but he was the one who chose his own friends so now he had to deal with the idiocy they all emitted from their persona. Even through electronics. For all Shizuo knew, he could be the only normal friend the other had. Well fuck, the man must live in an apocalyptic world if that was the case, cause Shizuo was no where near normal.

It was only some time until Shizuo had gotten the rest on his mental list, in which he went over a few times before going to pay for them. He had zoned out and before he knew it he was already outside walking the sidewalk back to the house. It was a quiet walk just like the previous walk to the market, except more teenagers were awake and causing havoc. Someone had also appeared to get into trouble with the District Police. Just seeing the scene made a shiver travel down the blond's spine. 'That's what you get when you aren't careful enough' Shizuo told himself in his head, trying to keep his gaze forward and his destination in mind. He wouldn't like it if people stared at him so he wouldn't at the teenager that was currently shouting profanities and being a hardhead with the officers.

It only took some time to realize what the teenager had done, the scene before him. A glass window was broken, and the currency - New Order Credit - was on the ground, obviously screaming 'robbery'! 'Tch, figures. These people never know when to quit it.' A voice spoke out in Shizuo's head. 'Yea, and your the one to talk?' Another snapped back.

"Shaddap." Shizuo growled under his breath, already getting annoyed by the way the shirt he was wearing was sticking to his back with the sweat.

There was apparently a cleaning crew as well, at the scene. Grafiti had been drawn on he walls, a direct message to the government painted in bright red and outlined in black.  
' **You're going down**.' It read. Another huff escaped the blond."Those troublemakers are going to make it to prison before I get put into jail. Those dumbasses, use your brain." And he spoke the truth. Out of all the districts, this one seemed to be the most active. Active as in Dissidents throwing off hints to the government. In other districts, they were more discrete in where they put their little words or pictures, making sure not to get caught, but these guys went all out. They were even worse than Shizuo.

By the time Shizuo got home, his brother was still in bed, still sleeping soundly. Throwing the bags full of things on the counter uncaringly, Shizuo grabbed a bowl and turned on the oven. The tofu he had bought was big and chunky, but plain. He laid it on the aluminum foil he had cut and then cut another piece to lay it on top. He left it to broil and went to work on the sauce and noodles. 

Any stress the blond might have had was already out the window, as he loved to cook, and he was not bad at it. His Hot Pot was his best dish so far and his brothers favorite, so he didn't waste time to start it. He got lost in the making he didn't hear the creaking of the stairs or the faint 'good morning' that had been said to him in greeting. It wasn't until Shizuo had turned around and was almost startled into dropping whatever he had in hand that he was planning to put over the stove.

"Oh Kasuka, it's just you. Don't scare me like that." Maneuvering around him to the stove, Shizuo had a stupid grin on his face. Oh the joy of cooking for Shizuo. He even wore that stupid cow apron his brother gave him (mind you Shizuo likes cows). 

"What are you making?" It was a stupid questing Kasuka already knew the answer to, but he always asked his older brother what he was cooking so he was going to ask anyways even if he did know.

"Beef and Vegetable Hot Pot." Came the quick answer as Shizuo busied himself with chopping the vegetables. A glass of milk had been placed next to his work space by his brother. Said brother was climbing onto the breakfast bar chair in front of Shizuo's work space. "Thanks." After whipping away the extra carrots that stuck to the sharp cutting blade away, he grabbed the glass of his favorite drink and drank it on two gulps. A white mustache was left in the milks wake. Noticed by his brother, Kasuka put his hand on the counter and pushed himself up, looming over the cut vegetables. Grabbing a cut piece of carrot, he placed it on his brothers chin and sat back down. 

"Now you have a goatee."

Shizuo had froze, but now he laughed out loud, realizing just what his brother was doing.

"You think I'll look good with a mustache and goatee?" His brother shook his head at that, pulling a face onto what others would call a 'void of emotion' face. 

"You'll look like an older version of dad." It was Shizuo's turn to pull a face. Throwing a carrot to his brothers face he huffed and crossed his arms.

"You ain't getting Hot Pot later." That earned him a small faint smile on his brothers face. Kasuka drank the rest of his milk and sported his own milk mustache. With the carrot piece Shizio had thrown at his face just before, he placed it on his chin, now a younger and brunette version of his brother before him. Shizuo laughed, took out his phone and snapped a picture. "I'm saving that as my wallpaper." 

Once done making a mess in the kitchen, Shizuo cleaned up whatever he had used and threw away the vegetable scraps he couldn't use. He wiped down the counter, and sweeped the floor, all while his brother had gone to the bathroom to take a shower after his breakfast which was an apple and a glass of milk. Shizuo, mind you, no longer sported the milk mustache and carrot goatee, as the carrot fell before and he licked away the milk. His brother just used a napkin, which was probably a better option but Shizuo just couldn't give a fuck. His younger brother was always the smartest of the two.

A bit of sweat dripped from Shizuo's hair, since using the oven made the kitchen hot, it made Shizuo sweat. Wiping the bead with the back of his hand, he sat down on the kitchen table, letting out a sigh, eyeing the oven. To lost in thought, a hand to his shoulder made him jump. Looking over his left shoulder, he saw his brother in a dark green shirt, a brown jacket over his shoulders. Black dress pants and a brown belt to hold them up, black shoes on his feet. A look that seemed to be with all brand clothes, when they were really from the thrift store or the 500 New Order Credit store. His brother was probably more stylish than kids his age. He pointed to the front door.

"I'm going to go hang out with friends. I'll be back in time for lunch." 

"Okay. Be careful." Shizuo watched as he moved out the door. His brother already had good enough friends to hang out. Of coarse, Kasuka always had more luck than him. "So much for spending the whole day with him." Another sigh escaped as he stretched his legs from under him, a yawn making its way past his lips. Reaching for his phone, he looked down through his contacts, looking for a contact that read 'Dip Shit'. It popped out from all the others in the 'D' section. Tapping the icon that read 'text', he noticed he had three notifications from said contact. 

Today:

9:03 [Dip Shit: hey, you free?]

9:09 [Dip Shit: I want you to meet some of my other friends.]

9:16 [Dip Shit: Text back~!]

Groaning, he looked at the time they were sent, in which it read that it was at least twenty minutes ago. Well, his brother had went out with friends, and he could give the Hot Pot some time on the stove...

9:34 [Shizuo to Dip Shit: Okay, give me a few minutes and we'll meet at the West Exit.]

Getting up, he moved over to the food on the stove, looking at the sauce then looking at the tofu in the oven. Looking at the time, Shizuo grabbed to heat mittens and put them on, opening the stove to take out the tofu. Once out, he put it in a separate open container and placed it on the counter. The pot on the stove then revived attention, everything being stirred once and then put to the lowest setting there was for the fire. Once done, Shizuo walked back to his phone that was still on the kitchen table. He had receive a reply from the four eyed teenager.

9:36 [Dip Shit: Okay!]

Shizuo put on his shoes by the door, and made sure he carried both his phone and his wallet. Once sure they were both in some pocket, he grabbed the keys off the racket and walked out the front door his younger brother walked through not to long ago. The hot sun hit Shizuo's back as he turned to lock the front door. As Shizuo has noted before, the sun was being an ass and blinding him with its reflection off the door knob he was currently trying to lock to prevent a break in. With a growl, he was able to get the proper key into the keyhole, twisting his wrist to the right to lock it. He repeated the process to the one on the top, and squinting again when the suns reflection got to his eyes and blinding him for a second time. The sun and him defiantly weren't friends and probably never would be if it kept on bothering him like this twenty four-seven. 

"Fucking ass." Turning on his heel, he walked down the little walkway that lead to the neat doorway and walked along the sidewalk, and walked out of the little street that his house was located on. Once he turned, there was more sets of homes, in which he walked in front of, sometimes seeing little kids on the porch with their older sibling taking care of them. Once through the rows of houses, Shizuo was met with a busy street, in which businesses were set up. By now, more people were up and roaming the streets, though there were less business men and woman and more teenagers and smaller children. By now, teenagers walked in groups, not big ones, their own little ones with people varying from three to five, most likely close friends. Most girls wore their usual long shirts and blouses, all going past their elbow like they should. Males wore the usual button up shirt, dress pants. It's was the usual city of a district, yet this one was more crowded with younger folk. 

The park Shizuo passed was filled with teenagers on the swings, the younger kids playing around the little equipment they had. Some people read under a tree, with their tablet on their knees, some carried book-bags with their shit and stuff, some sat on the benches and seemed to be falling asleep. Yup, all the usual stuff. Nothing that interesting to see.

The West Exit was close to the Five-Way West Exit Intersection, in which was always busy with cars in every way. He spot the guys on the hip-high wall that separates the fire-lane and sidewalk. Once Shinra spotted him, he started waving like a freak. He didn't stop until Shizuo was up with them, in which Kadota just gave a simple 'yo'. There was a bag in Kadota's hand, and a big one at that. The taller brunette must have spotted him looking cause he gave a nervous chuckle. Shrugging, he dropped the white paper bag on the floor, giving off another sign, sitting back. 

"It's not mine." Kadota's stated simply, looking over at the store they were next to, in which seemed to be a bookstore. An old one at that. Most bookstores had closed thanks to 'smart-books'. Looking over at Shinra, he just gave a shrug, and then nudging his head over to the glass automatic doors of the place.

Two figures came out. A woman in a black dress with a black cap came out. Brown hair streamed from the sides of her face, the rest of it in a braid that circles her head in the back, she also had big brown eyes with dark eyelashes. The other was a male with a white and pale yellow hoodie, black pants as well. He carried a book-bag on his back and had his hands stuffed in his hoodie. A silver chain connected from a belt loop and traveled to his back pocket. He was blond, and pale. His eyes appeared to be closed, meaning his eyes were very accented. They together made quite a weird and awkward pair.

"Oh! You must be Heiwajima Shizuo!" The girl exclaimed, smile bright on her face. "My name is Karisawa Erika, this is my friend Yumasaki Walker!" This girl was kinda weird too. She was also loud. Very loud. "Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

"Yup, yup!" The Yumasaki dude added. A quick look over his shoulder to Kadota earned him another shrug.

"Their the otaku group. Be careful with what you mention to them, or else you might never hear the end." Shinra roughed at Kadota's words, throwing his head back. 

"You got that right!" 

'Was this who Shinra was talking about when he said I could meet other friends of his? Geez, this guy befriends the weirdest people.' Shizuo was quite scared of who else he would meet. 

"You're the guy that sits next to me in homeroom. I've heard stories about you from Kishitani-San, isn't that right Dotachin?" The girl - Erika - tossed over her shoulder to Kadota, a bright smile on her face. She earned a groan from said friend.

"Stop calling me that." Shizuo could hear Kadota say faintly under his breath, in which Erika still got.

Turning on her heel, she crossed her arms and gave a small huff. She then stuck her nose in the air and gave a dramatic sigh.

"You're no fun! Iza-Iza has a wonderful way of giving the most fitting nicknames!" 

The exchange between the two seemed warm, friendly. It was obvious that they have all been friends since their were yay-high. Good friends like that was something Shizuo never had the pleasure to obtain. With all his moving and anger explosions, he either scared them away, or he had to leave them behind. That's why Shizuo always stuck to keeping his distance. He didn't want to loose yet another friend, it was always hard to make a friend, and then losing them was easier than it was to become friends. It was painful, seeing all your hard work go down a drain, and it was all your fault. If Shizuo didn't have the temper that he had, he could make friends and stay in the same district for more than a year. Sometimes all Shizuo had in a district was a few months. That wasn't enough time to make a friend and actually get to know them as a person. It was better to just distance himself and shun people away. That was what Shizuo was trying to do to Shinra the first day. He was trying to save himself and the four eyed teen all the trouble, he was just used to doing it, it became nature. But Shinra was a hardheaded pest, so yet he somehow got into Shizuo's skin.

"Dotachin, hand over the bag please!" Kadota did so, handing the girl the white bag. She sat down onto the white rough flooring and turning the whole bag upside down. Countless books fell from the white confinement. Manga, Shizuo corrected. Walker sat down on the floor next to the crazed girl and took the book-bag from off his shoulders and setting it in his lap and unzipping it, in which they stuffed the manga into. Another bag - one that was probably from the bookstore they just came out of - was also filled with manga, but it seemed to be older. They also put that into the aqua book-bag. 

They both stood up from the ground, both now empty bags in the girls hands. Walking over to the closest garbage can, she stuffed them in it, and walked right back. "Okay, let's go!" Fist thrown into the air, Erika grabbed the male next to her and pulled him along, away from the West Exit Intersection. Kadota kicked off the wall and went to join the two up ahead. One look to Shinra, and he hopped off the wall, and nodded over to the others direction. Shizuo followed the odd group, hands in his pockets. 

"Where are we going?" Shizuo asked the four eyed teenager next to him. Shinra looked at the tall faux blond, hands stuffed into the pockets of his lab coat. 

"Shinjuku." That earned a weird look from the blond, but the brunette just continued to waltz behind the little group ahead of them. "It's a place by the outskirts. We're going to a warehouse there." Shizuo seemed to get it by then, in which he sighed.

"You guys are _those_ kind of people. I was only kidding before, but I'm really starting to think you are those kind of people." It was a low grumble as he stared at the three up front. 

Shinra just seemed to shrug at him and looked up towards the sky, glasses going up the bridge of his nose.

"What if we are? Would you not like to hang out with us anymore? Besides, it's just a warehouse, what makes you think we are _those_ type of people?"

It wasn't that he didn't like them... No scratch that, he kinda didn't. He just didn't get along with those type of people. It was also because they were the very definition of trouble. Something Shizuo was trying to keep himself free from at the moment. It wasn't smart to hang out with people like that, people that influenced trouble, people who rose against the authorities.

" _They_ aren't the best." Shizuo admitted. It was true, he had seen the scene before him when he was walking back home. They only brought trouble. And sometimes they were jackasses to others who didn't see the world as they did. It was like that everywhere, across every district. 

"Besides, only _they_ hang out by the outskirts." 

He could practically feel the eye roll of Shinra's. 

"Yea well, a lot of my friends are _those_ type of people. They are easy to get along with.... well, at least most of them." At that Shinra gave a nervous laugh. Shizuo wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what that meant. 

The both of them caught up with the others, in which they were only talking nonsense, well, at least the Otaku's were. They yelled some things here and there supporting their argument. They were probably talking about some anime or manga, but Shizuo wasn't into that stuff, so he didn't know what they were talking about. Something called 'Owari no Seraph'. The words 'Yu' and 'Mika' were used a lot between the two, and they used their hands to emphasize a few things here and there. Kadota just seemed to be ignoring them, a lollipop now in his mouth. From where? Probably from that Yumasaki guy. He seemed to be loaded of those kind of things.

The walk wasn't that long, probably a fifteen minute walk from were they were. They eventually took a back road after walking through a narrow alleyway. The backroad was littered with teenagers though, as quiet as it seemed from the outside. They hung out and sat on window sills of unfinished buildings, some on the roofs. There was graffiti on the walls, but it was... Artistic. Something that was very, very rare in daily life. Seeing teens doing things they shouldn't be made Shizuo have that weird tick of his, wanting something between his fingers to keep him busy. Shizuo even saw some gays, in which wasn't something he saw everyday. He can't even pinpoint the last time he saw any, if he ever even has. It was against the law to be gay, so how could he? 

"Are you sure we should be here?" Shizuo whispered over to his framed friend. 

"Positive!"

Shizuo gave a grunt that showed he wasn't buying it. There was a building all the way at the end that had its door wide open. Quite a bit of noise was emitting from it. And that was were they were heading towards, apparently. The warehouse was filled, too filled. Kadota and the Otakus walked over to a guy by the wall, he had brown hair and wore quite the funky assemble. Shizuo wasn't sure we're he was supposed to go until he felt a tug on his shirt. Looking back, he saw Shinra who was pointing to a hallway. Being led through the crowd, they walked down the dark hallway in which people hung out, too close to each other to be normal. A door at the end all the way to the side appeared to be their destination. Once opened and inside, Shinra closed it after Shizuo entered, and sauntered over to the couch that had its back to the door. A TV was in the room, and people crowded the couch, a show on the black big device. A blond head covered the couch and girls surrounded the figure. It was a medium sized room, not that big and not too small. A black haired boy sat by the couch, but seemed small enough to be a first year. What kind of people went to these places?

"Anyone seen Orihara?" Shinra had to yell over the music that was playing outside and the noise coming from the TV.

"He stepped outside for a second." The other blond replied. His arms hung around the shoulders of the girls that were closest to him, which obviously screamed 'PLAYER!'. There also was that name again. He didn't even know the guy. Did he want to?

A figure soon draped its arms around Shinra and drew their mouth close to the others ear. Yelling soon followed and Shinra screamed. 

"Don't do that! You'll make me go deaf!" Shinra pushed away from a thin raven, smirk playing on his lips. Seeing it made alarms set off in Shizuo's head. The other wore a black hoodie that seemed to be cut by the shoulders, showing his whole arms. Skinny black pants - jeans, is what they are called? - hug to his legs and a belt circulated the pants that hung dangerously low on his hips, his own silver chain hanging from his side. Thick black framed glasses adorned his face, and behind them were two bright red eyes that seemed to have a dangerous yet mischievous glint to them. He had alabaster skin and probably a too thin frame. Black short hair with bangs was neatly combed. Hands at his hips and leaning a bit forward, he smirked that smirk that made Shizuo see red. This guy wasn't good for him. The word 'DANGER!' spilled everywhere around him like gasoline. Who even wears twin rings on each hand? 

"I want you to meet someone. Shizuo, meet Asshole-ihara-" a smack to the back of his head shut up the soon-to-be-crack-doctor. 

"Introduce us correctly Shinra." With red sharp eyes on him, pointed smirk aimed at him, pink lips parted. "I'm Orihara Izaya, you are?" 

"Heiwajima Shizuo." Shizuo said gruffly, keeping a close eye on the other. The music had gone quiet, only the sound of teenagers outside and the TV next to them. A hand with pale slim fingers was outstretched to him, sharp eyes still pointed at him. 

"I don't like you." This Izaya guy just laughed at him. Laughed. 

"I'm please to make your acquaintance." He said with a laugh. He withdrew his hand without even getting a shake.

Shizuo doesn't like him. Not one bit. Fuck you Shinra!

"We'll be seeing more of each other."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was posted late. Oops.
> 
> See a grammar mistake? Notify me!


	5. My Own Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even if it meant losing it to trying.

It wasn't until the front door opened that Shizuo woke up from his slumber on the couch. He took up the whole white piece of furniture, his limbs splayed completely over it, not even one piece uncovered by the broad body of Heiwajima Shizuo. It was some time in the afternoon, maybe around four or five, meaning his brother must have been out for four hours at the least. Shizuo on the other hand, had gone out for about an hour or so, not exactly comfortable in the place he was taken to, and was sure he would never go back. He had been debating with himself wether he should or shouldn't tell his brother, but he deserved to know, as he was always there for him.

Another thing on his mind was Shinra and Kyohei. They didn't seem like the kind of people to be like _that_. They seemed like normal people, with normal goals in mind and part of the lame conformity if the district - more or less. When Shizuo moved here, he planned to stay from trouble all the time, keep his temper in check, and be good in school, but no-o-o, he happened to attract just the right people to him, the trouble makers. The blond couldn't just leave the two go after spending some time with them already, they were actually nice people, they weren't bad in that way, but just knowing they were part of _that_ group and being one of _those_ people just didn't sit right with him, it made his stomach drop and uneasy.

If that was bad, then he didn't know about how he feels about the raven. Acting so cocky like as if he knew everything, head held up high, wearing such _indecent_ clothes, literally reeked of trouble. Shizuo hated that even more. He didn't like it. No, he despised it. He could already tell they wouldn't get along, and oh just fantastic, he seemed to be close with the others, only two people he knew and could somewhat trust to a certain degree. That smirk plastered on his face just made things ten times worse, he followed Shinra to meet people, not assholes. He was trying to be nice but the other completely had a different idea in his knuckle-headed brain of his. That stupid black hair and red eyes behind funky looking frames. He was going to start calling him four eyes.

No matter how hard he tries, he is always directed to trouble, and the thought of being close to people who even went against the law like that made his skin crawl and a shiver run down his spine. The thoughts of all the things that could happen and the things that already have just won't ever sit well with him. He needed to let this off his shoulders, he needed to talk with someone, anyone, just, not his parents. Shizuo was afraid that he might break his parents, thinking that he was converting into one of _them_. Kasuka. Kasuka might know what to do. He has always been there for him, he was sure that his brother could put him to ease and sort this out the way he always does with other stuff that plagued him.

"Hey. Did you have fun?" Shizuo asked, getting up from the couch slowly, as sleep still slightly lingered around him. The blond's hands went up to rub at his eyes, a poor attempt to rub the sleep from his figure as he walked over to the other side of the counter his brother was on. Resting his forearms on the cool tile of the counter, hunching his back a bit as the counter supported all his weight, and not grunting in protest. Shizuo still had a little fight going on in his head, he was debating about telling someone. He did not want to burden his brother by telling the little white secret he had, he didn't want to put his brother on the spot either. They just started fresh, how could he already attract trouble so fast?

Kasuka only shrugged in response to his older brother's question. He took two glasses out and opened the refrigerator and poured milk into the glasses. Kasuka handed his brother one, and they childishly clinked the cups together then proceeded to drink the white beverage.

"It was cool. The guys had a lot of other friends." Kasuka finally verbally answered his brother, shrugging with that monotone and blank face he always had, but upon closer inspection, his eyes said that he was happy that he was making friends. Shizuo was too happy, that his brother was making friends. His actions have caused so much trouble and pain for his family, and Shizuo needed to stop all the madness he caused and just sit still and not let the rage out. Was that too much to ask?

Shizuo hummed in response, crossing his arms over each other on the counter, thinking about Kasuka having friends surrounding him that accepted him for who he was already. It was a weird occurrence. Since Kasuka didn't show emotions that others could see, people would think he was weird, and he would get bullied by any age group. Every single time Shizuo heard that his little brother was being bullied, he never hesitated to kick the other's asses. That was what usually got the older Heiwajima sibling into trouble, protecting his little brother. Shizuo did not tolerate people running his brother over, not to disrespect him like they did to Shizuo. It's okay to say that Shizuo would do anything for his brother.

When Shizuo needed someone to talk to, Kasuka was always there. He never made fun of the blond or said something rude while his brother was complaining about his day, or the people in the city, or his classmates that were complete dicks. Kasuka never said anything when he was still talking, he would wait until his brother finished, maybe take a few minutes to maul everything over, and give a proper reply to his brother. Anything his younger brother would say to the blond would always made Shizuo feel better, because he would know that Kasuka understood him, and didn't blame him for his sudden anger outbursts or on-impulse actions. It was the ways he was, and no matter what he did or would say, Kasuka was always there for him, and would always be there for him. He made a promise to him years ago, around the time when Shizuo had discovered his strength, the time when he had lifted the refrigerator in the kitchen because Kasuka had eaten his last pudding. It was when he had injured the kind milk lady - the one he had a crush on. He had tried to save her from her molesters, and instead hurt everybody, and it made him feel worthless. It was the first time he wished he didn't have that cursed strength of his. Kasuka had joked about it one time, saying that it was probably from all the milk he drank. As long as he had Kasuka, he could do anything.

"They accept you fully, right?" He didn't mean to say it, but it slipped either way. Kasuka gave his brother a small smile, and slightly leaned back, looking out the window over the sink.

"Yeah." 

The kitchen was then bathed in silence. Not awkward silence, or the silence in which neither of them knew what to say then. It was comfortable silence. Just being in each other's presence was nice, neither of them had to worry about anything.

It was because of the silence that Shizuo decided not to tell his brother about earlier, he wasn't going to burden his brother with his own problems. Shizuo was the older of the two, and he had to take responsibility, even if taking it was a bit hurtful to do it alone.

This time, Shizuo was going to be the ideal brother. He was going to be a functional human in the strict government they were under, and the oh so flawless society he was apart of. He wa-

Bright vermillion eyes in his head said otherwise.

////

The Heiwajima family sat around the table for dinner, their legs supporting their body on the soft pillows in the living room. No one had seemed to want to eat at the dining table that they had, so they ate on the kotatsu, with the warm air off. His parents were thrilled that Kasuka had been out with friends and had enjoyed it, and they teased him about meeting this girl named Ruri, Shizuo included. When his parents heard that Shizuo had been out with friends, they were _ecstatic_. They said that they were happy that Shizuo had already found himself a nice group of friends that he could joke around with, and his mother had even shed some tears. With all their moving, Shizuo had never really been able to get a group, he usually was alone, because people were afraid of his monstrous strength, so this whole 'group of friends' thing was kinda new to the blond himself. Despite telling his parents that he had been out with friends, he didn't tell them where. He also didn't tell that he had met someone that could probably be a trouble later on to Shizuo. Those were his problems, he had to figure them on his own.

When dark fell upon their district, Shizuo stared out the window in his bedroom, looking at the teenagers running to get back home before nine, not exactly wanting to get arrested for being out after curfew. He saw some walking casually down the street, probably getting ready to go to one of those cursed places. They wouldn't learn until they got arrested and punished for their wrong doings. It seemed that those teenagers never learned.

Those damned places smelled of sweat and sex, and music pumping though those huge speakers they would usually have. Don't even get started on the lights that would make one go cross-eyed. Teenagers drinking that forbidden booze, wearing indecent clothes, showing off their bare ankles and knees, showing shoulders and elbows, collarbones exposed. Drugs and writing on the wall, having no care in the world. They are lucky enough to have those soundproof walls, or else those District Officers would be tracking the music from across the district because of how loud they play their god damned shit. Shizuo isn't speaking from experience, he has only heard stories, but that day was the very first day he had seen one, let alone been in one. How did those teenagers get off the hook, be able to hide so easily? They made more of a crime than Shizuo did with his strength. Dirty dancing, which would lead to two or more people engaging into a make out session - take note that these people aren't even legally signed for each other - which would soon lead to sex. Illegal sex. 

District 31, the most heavily induced _Dissident_ populated district out of all in Japan. Shizuo heard that the center, also known as Ikebukuro, carried many hidden, underground Nite Krawlers, that could carry over a thousand people. The number just made a shiver run through Shizuo. The blond didn't know what the Ikebukuro slash Shinjuku province of Japan total population was; it could be hundred of thousands, millions. It was a very crowded district. 

Shizuo watched as the lights in houses started going out, as it neared nine thirty, meaning, Shizuo had to go to sleep unless he wanted a very unwelcome visitor to come knocking on their front door. Sighing, Shizuo closed the blinds and brought the slightly see-through curtains over the window. Ditching his shirt somewhere on the floor, and grabbing a modified shirt of his, with sleeved that ended close to the shoulders, Shizuo crossed the hall to the bathroom to wash his teeth and try to tame his hair a bit so it wouldn't be in knots the day after. 

If only weekends had two days. 

Finishing with what he was doing in the bathroom, Shizuo trudged back to his room and called a 'good night' before closing the door. His school clothes were carelessly thrown on the chair by his desk, but Shizuo only groaned and dug himself under the sheets, bringing them over his eyes to block the light he had forgot to turn off. It wasn't even Sunday and he already knew he was going to have a really bad school day. 

Even yet, after an hour and a half of being under the covers, and 10:34 bleared in neon green light, Shizuo couldn't find any sleep. Turning to his side, he stared at the curtains that slightly swayed by the air vent bellow. Without looking out window, he new there were kids sneaking out of their homes at this hour to go to hang out with the delinquents. Shizuo could only close his eyes then, praying, praying so, so, so, so hard, that he wouldn't become like one of them. He would be good. 

Even if it meant losing it to trying.

////

The locker room in the front was crowded and buzzed with talk, girls talking about their day at the mall and shopping, talking about nail polish and hair styles that they wanted to try. Guys talked about the girls they had seen that weekend, about their 'stupid' career lessons that they were being forced to take. No one talked about going out late at night to drink their asses off, or about getting laid. No one spoke a word about loud music and dizzying lights. As expected.

While Shizuo was working his outdoor shoes off and putting on his indoor shoes, the locker next to him opened and a bubbly voice spoke up.

"Morning Shizuo! How was your day yesterday?" Even expecting the voice, Shizuo still jumped and smacked his head on the underside of his locker that was halfway open.

"Shit!" Shizuo cursed out louder, getting a few disapproving looks from some of the surrounding students.

"Shizuo, you shouldn't curse out that loud." Dip Shit sighed, crossing his arms, but a smile was still present on his face, meaning the whole thing was a silly act of the idiot.

"Yes Shizu-chan, it's not proper to curse like that. Didn't your parents ever teach you to hold your tongue?" The voice was grating against the blond's ears, and it was annoying as fuck. It was sharp at its edges, enough to cut someone in one swift movement. 

Slowly standing, careful to not smack his head against the locker that was still half open, Shizuo spun on his heel and looked slightly down to see vermillion free from black frames. There in 175 cm hell, stood the one and only fucking Orihara Izaya. In his red and black uniform scheme, Izaya smirked up at the blond, rolling back onto the balls of his feet and back forward. Izaya had turned suddenly and knocked his elbow against the blond's stomach, and laughed, taking his place next to Shinra with his hands stuffed in the probably too tight black pant's pockets of his. He had an annoying, and Shizuo means _annoying_ smile. What the fuck did this kid use as toothpaste? Fucking bleach? His teeth were too white to be healthy.

Out of no where, Izaya starts laughing, like, bursts out laughing. With such a burst of scandalous laughter, people couldn't help but turn over to the raven that was doubled over laughing his ass off at something Shizuo had yet to find out.

"I'm sorry..... it's.... it's just your hair." Yes, it's true that Shizuo never actually combed his hair unless something important like a wedding or some shit, but what could be so funny as for someone to laugh at his choice of hairstyle.

"What about it." Shizuo's voice was gruff, annoyance tinting the edges of each word. He was trying real hard to not throw the raven across the campus, to show the raven that he should not piss off Shizuo. God, was he trying.

"It looks like a tornado passed through. You aren't going to get girls like that." Now that the raven was more calm, his annoying smile was back, and his hands were on his hips, as he shifted his weight to the other leg. Shinra chuckled at Izaya comment, shaking his head a little, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. Shinra turned to start changing his shoes, a smile on his lips, that could also be labeled as annoying. Well shit, guess everyone had an annoying smile around here because so far, that was all Shizuo saw.

"Izaya is right, Shizuo. You should start combing your hair more often, my, or even start." Shinra then was the one who had a round of a laugh. 

"Shut it Dip Shit. Like your one to talk."

When the bell rang, Izaya had said a quick goodbye and ran up the stairs, two steps at a time. When he turned to run up the second flight of stairs, his velocity was so fast, Shizuo could assure you that he had smacked the wall, but there had been no noise to confirm it. Even though Izaya had took off, Shinra's and Shizuo's pace had been significantly slower. It hadn't been thirty seconds, and Shinra was already trying to talk off Shizuo's right ear. One universe, eight planets, seven seas, seven continents, eight-hundred-and-nine islands, one-hundred-and-ninety-six countries, and Shizuo had the unfortunate luck of meeting this crack student? Shizuo's fortune was quite good, wasn't it. What next, he'd get hit on by the academy's nurse or his homeroom teacher? Ew, actually no, that's actually really really gross. 

At the homeroom entrance, both of the boys slightly bowed to their teacher and took their respectful seat. Shinra had bounced up to what was probably his father at the front of the room, and handed him some white papers while yapping and yapping, never even stopping to take a breath. The girl on his right - that he can now identify as Erika - giggled and tapped his desk, her head held in her hand, as she tipped it to the side as if dreamy thinking of something- or someone. The same girls as the first day were around her desk, their chairs pulled up to the brunettes desk as if they were talking about something private that no one else should hear. They all smiled at Shizuo, some more creepier than others, but they all had one thing in common. They all made his skin crawl. Girls like them always made Shizuo feel uneasy, paranoid, and weird. It was never a good feeling.

"Ne ne, Shizu-Shizu, wanna join Kadota, Walker, and I to the park later today? There is going to be some sort of show, and it sounds interesting." Shizuo heard the hidden message behind Karisawa's words, the glint in her eye supporting his suspicion. To be honest, Shizuo hadn't planned to talk to the other people Shinra had him meet, but having the brown haired girl next to him in homeroom, Izaya bothering him by the entrance, and probably in some of his classes, and the weirdass Walker guy probably in his gym cycle, he was thoroughly and royally screwed. Shizuo had no intention in getting caught by the outskirts of Shinjuku, and be put into jail, and this time, permanently. So, in response to Erika's question, Shizuo simply shrugged his shoulders and slumped into his chair.

"I don't know. I have a younger brother to take care of, an-"

"Don't be silly, he can come with!" Erika said in a cheery tone, tilting her head even more in her hand.

Anger could only seethe through the blond. How dare she think that he, would put his younger brother, into danger like that! Like hell he would bring his brother to one of those places, she had to be completely idiotic and stupid to think that he, would just agree to go because the person he is supposed to be taking care of, is going with him. Kasuka does not need all the trouble that his older brother would somehow be connected to. He would not let Kasuka be put behind bars with him, because of him! Erika seemed weird at first, but now she just looks like a fucking idiot in Shizuo's eyes. But before he could argue with the crazed girl, Shizuo's name had been called from the front of the room. The blond had froze, not knowing what to do or say, because he wasn't paying attention, for he was lost in his thoughts and boiling rage. A voice on his right answered to the voice that had called him out before.

"Present."

The girls next to Erika giggled as they scooted their chairs back to their proper desks, waiting their turn for what might have been attendance. Shizuo was still frozen when the soft tune of the bell rung throughout the rooms and hallways, signaling that homeroom was over. Shizuo was still frozen when Shinra started tugging on his school jacket, telling him to get up, "or else we'll be late!". The only thought in the blond's mind was that he has almost snapped, he would have gotten into trouble if he had yelled out at Erika. It might not have been a straight offense, but his parents would be disappointed. He couldn't let that happen.

So then the school day went by slowly. Social Studies was boring, even with the teacher being an ass. Heath was also boring, even with the teacher with huge knockers. Language Arts One was also boring, because well, even Shinra's absent voice made things a bit better. Science was weird, especially when Shizuo was trying hard not to turn back and look at Izaya who was probably working on his class work like a good boy. It wasn't until lunch that things went a little different then the norm.

"Shut it, like as if you knew how it felt to be hit square in the ribs with those metal knuckle linings." 

"I don't. That's because I don't go around doing the stupid things you do."

"How many times have we told you that it's dangerous, yet you still do it?"

Shizuo could hear the yelling through the gray door that opened to the roof. Shizuo could only grit his teeth at the first voice he had heard, knowing full well who had decided to join them that day. So when Shizuo opened the door, he could only glare at the figure that sat with his back to the door, throwing a crumbled paper at Shinra who squawked in return, right before batting the crumbled paper away from him smacking the poor Kadota in the face. It hasn't even been three minutes since the bell for lunch rang, and trouble was already bubbling in the little group he sat with. Wasn't that just flipping fantastic? Hell knows how many days he will have to sit and eat through the nonsense that was spewing from both the raven and the younger brunette, without having his rage take over him completely and injure someone. It was probably only in a matter of minutes. Fuck, maybe even seconds. Who the hell can tell when it was Shizuo who could explode at any minute, seeing red.

When the faux blond plopped down to eat, he made sure to kick the raven's leg closest to him. Izaya said nothing, but threw a small ball of rice at Shizuo's forehead once he sat down. He also stuck his tongue out before he took some sushi into his mouth with yellow and brown decorated chopsticks. Who the hell even ate with decorate chopsticks at school? Was he eating fish? That shit is expensive, usually eaten during dinner, not school lunch. 

'This Orihara guy, don't tell me he is rich or something?'

His thought was cut short when Shinra started yelling again about some stupid shit he had pulled the day before, happily showing off the scraped knee he had, most likely from falling somewhere on the concrete some time while he was out on the outskirts of Shinjuku. Shinra being Shinra, he was probably jumping on the roof from one of the surrounding buildings around the warehouse. Izaya had been making fun of Shinra, when some girl across the academy's roof yelled at the raven.

"Yo, Orihara! Remove all the French vowels from _boys_ and you get _BS_!" People laughed at the girl who had yelled, who Shizuo recognizes from his health class. The one with grey hair and a mole under her lip on the left, glasses bordered in black and blue. 

"Remove all the English vowels from _female_ and you get _FML_." Izaya had yelled back, laughing along with the others on the roof that had been paying attention to their playful prattle, Shinra and Kadota included. It wasn't that Shizuo didn't find it funny, it was just, he would have though the other girl would have found that offensive. He guessed not, as the girl from before was practically rolling around on the ground. Shizuo could say that that girl, had been 'burned'. Someone else had joined the fun when they said something along the lines of 'can I get you some ice for that burn!?', which even though it was a common comeback, it still fit well for the current situation. Izaya knocked his elbow on Shizuo's side, smirking slightly.

"Common, you thought that was funny." Shizuo couldn't deny what Izaya had said, so he let a chuckle loose, looking down at the concrete beneath him.

Guess having Orihara around wasn't _that_ bad.

Lunch went smoothly from there, though Shizuo and Izaya had bickered a bit here and there for some stupid things. Really, Shizuo couldn't even remember what they were fighting about, that was how important it was. Kadota had gotten up to go to the vending machine by the roof's stairs inside the academy's building, and had asked if anyone else wanted anything. Shinra already had everything he needed, because 'his beautiful Celty made it.' Izaya had asked for some mango juice and Shizuo simply asked for some milk. Izaya threw some coins at him so he could buy their drinks, even though Kadota had said that it was alright, but Izaya had threatened to actually kick his ass if he didn't accept them. When Kadota came back, the boys had said their thanks, and continued to do their thing, which was Izaya and Shinra literally fighting on the ground - not really harmful, more like a rolling around the place kind of fighting - and Shizuo stuffing his face with food. So it was okay to say, that what the next conversation had not been seen coming. 

"What was that thing that Izaya said when that buzz-cut guy got pissed and yelled at him?" Kadota had casually asked, as he sipped his apple juice and laid back on his left forearm on the concrete. He was looking over at Shinra, expecting to be answered. "I forgot what the guy even said. I wasn't paying attention because Erika was talking too loud." Izaya giggled at that, as he pulled the straw from his drink out of his mouth.

"He said 'suck my dick'." Izaya answered, giggling once again like the freak he is. Shizuo gave a look at the raven's direction. He shouldn't even be saying things like that at school.

"And Izaya answered with a 'sorry, I can't put small objects in my mouth or else I'll choke'." Shinra had oh so casually replied. Shizuo, who was currently drinking milk, snorted as he was just swallowing, and he could feel the milk come out from his nose. Izaya had seen and laughed so hard, he had probably choked on his own saliva. Karma was a bitch. 

Kadota had only hummed, a small smile on his lips. No doubt, he had seen the stunt both the blond and the raven pulled. 

"Nice." Shizuo could only reply with a roll of his eyes, after Shinra had thankfully giving him a napkin to clean his face from the milk that had gone the wrong way. Izaya still slightly coughed from the saliva he had choked on, and was softly hitting his chest to help him regain his composure. It was quite an eventful lunch, if you asked Shizuo.

When the bell had rung signaling that lunch was over, they all cleaned up their area, being mindful and not wanting to get into trouble for leaving small insignificant garbage behind. Izaya was the first to get up, and he stretched with his arms above his head, a little noise escaping him. He rolled his shoulders back and cracked his neck. His hand dove for his pants pocket and he looked at his phone the blue light coming from the screen as he checked god knows what. 

Placing his phone back into his pocket, he stretched once again, his arm over his head to the side, and repeated with the other arm. 

"By the way, sorry for knocking into you the other day. Y'know, on the sidewalk. I was being chased so, I couldn't just stop." Izaya had left quickly after that, waving over his shoulder at the three as he left, a skip in his step. The grey haired girl from before joined him by the door, throwing her arm around the ravenette and whispering something into his ear. Shizuo had stood confused, not exactly sure what Izaya had meant. He had turned his thoughts over and over, trying to remember a time he was almost run over by Izaya and people chasing him. Shizuo could only remember Izaya being chased by the shoe lockers by the entrance, but couldn't remember a time he was chased by the sidewalk, where he had to be included.

Shizuo had almost burned his finger during his next class on the stove - as he was in cooking class - thinking about what Izaya had meant by that statement. During his Kanji Class, Shizuo had messed up some characters because he wasn't exactly paying attention, spacing out, and once he spaced back in, he had written a totally different character than the one he should be, ten times. Shizuo had gotten pissed. Language Arts Two had been slightly boring, as he was looking out the window from across the classroom, and got startled when a certain annoying brunette girl with hair braided around her head threw a paper airplane at him when the teacher wasn't looking. Math was hard because math was never Shizuo's strongest, probably never would be. English class was boring, because Shizuo never really cared to learn a language that was spoken internationally. Gym was a pain in the ass, because while Shizuo was changing, Izaya stole his sweatpants, and Shizuo had to run around the locker room wearing only a shirt and boxers. The guys had a good laugh with that.

In gym, his class was running once again, which meant Shinra would fall behind, and Shizuo would slow down so that he could catch up. This time, at the end of their laps, Shinra did puke, so Shizuo was sent to take him to the nurse's office. The nurse was blond, blue eyes, and a bubbly personality. She had acted wildly when she saw that Shinra was holding his stomach and quickly took him to the bed in the back. Shinra got something to drink, a pill, and told to get rest once he got home. They were released to go back to gym, but it was already time and everyone was just sent to change their clothes. 

Both Shinra and Shizuo walked together to the entrance of the school to change their shoes, and Izaya was leaning close to Shinra's locker. 

Shizuo still didn't get what Izaya had meant before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally caugh up with all the updates out. Have to start writing the next chappy that was supposed to be for this month. Oh well.


	6. Orb Of A Thousand Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some come because they need to set themselves free from a boring black and white backdrop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long wait! As you can see, I'm not very good at keeping up with schedules. I happened to catch the flu from my mom, so I'm staying home from school. I decided to finally post this little sucker :3 Enjoy.

The walk home was once again filled with talk about both of the Hiewajima's school day. It was a pleasant walk, the sun. It as harsh as usual, so no annoying extra sweat rolling down the sides of their faces. Their steps were light on the pristine sidewalk, the soft cool wind slightly brushing their faces as they made their way back home. When they had gotten back to said home, instead of sitting with Shizuo under the kotatsu to do their homework like usual, Kasuka walked up to his room, saying that he was going to take a nap. It was confusing, as Kasuka was never tired during the day, he always got a good nights rest and was healthy, so no need, Shizuo on the hand, not so much. And yet, Shizuo shook it off, and did his homework alone today, with a glass of cool milk next to his books, pencil already scribbling on the clean piece of paper. 

The sound of pencil scratching on paper was oddly calming, and was the only other noise apart from the soft ticking of the clock in the kitchen and Shizuo's soft breathing. It was less relaxing when Shizuo got to math and Kanji homework, and the English article staring back at him made his brain get jumbled up and frustration soon fed him up to the point that he placed his pencil down a little to hard on the kotatsu, his eyebrow twitching. Surely, a break would do good to him. And that break would be him getting dinner ready, which would be a nice breather, before going back to his work awaiting him to be done and due tomorrow. Oh, how he longed and entertained the idea of having a two day weekend. 

Shizuo groaned as he got up from his seat, sluggishly stretching from his hunched position prior, his bones creaking as he pushed his arms over his head, his back slightly arching, and on the tips of his toes. His socks muffled the noise his feet made against the hardwood floor, and protected his feet from the cool tile of the kitchen. Shizuo was quiet to tie the apron around his neck and waist, and was soon cutting vegetables and throwing away the excess ends, and the undesired parts. The blond boiled pasta, and waited by the window in front of the kitchen sink, birds making a nest in the tree behind their house that gave the area a round it a nice shade from the sun. It was a cool tree. One could climb up there and hide from prying eyes, and it was easy to get up too. There was a bald spot in the middle, and Shizuo imagined that it must be beautiful to just lay in the branches and look up at the stars, things that were hard to see either way, as if blurred and censored. A far away light, lost in the darkness. It was a true wonder to the blond, just how pretty the stars long before looked, even before the government....

Hearing hot water hit the stove, Shizuo turned to the boiling water with the now softened pasta, and grabbed a frying pan, heated it up before straining the pasta, mind still somewhere else. His fingers worked as he stared blindly at nothing, his eyes focused on a past that was no longer an option to the present. Before he knew it, the teenager had the pasta and vegetables frying in a pan, and slowly cooling off with the heat now turned off. With a scowl, Shizuo shook his head hard to free his head from the thoughts that had blocked the present from his eyes. That was no way to think, he wasn't a delinquent, he wasn't stupid, he knew all he had was the future, but hearing stories from _them_ always stuck to him, actually wondering if the earth had been the way they said it did. Of coarse, it was just curiosity, nothing more. Just because he had _those_ kind of friends didn't make him one automatically. He was just curious. 

With dinner cooling down, Shizuo took off the apron and walked back to his homework, but he didn't feel relieved at all. Probably worse than before. He stared blackly at the paper before him, not thinking of anything in particular, but white nothingness, that showed just how blank and boring his life was. No activity, always bored at home, not many friends, not a normal person in general. He had always been surrounded by nothing but white nothingness, it wasn't new, but it suddenly felt constricting and much more bland than usual. Even grey was a prettier color than white. Better yet, blue, purple, even red. At the sudden thought of such color, bright red eyes flickered in his mind, yet, he still didn't blink, and continued to stare at nothing before him. White and black stared right back, one hand held his head up, and the other hand holding a pencil in between two fingers, in which slightly twitched in the silent environment. Once again, the ticking of the clock drowned up the wind and birds outside, his mind once again un-focusing, before a click of a door shutting upstarts brought the teen back to the 'here and now'. Looking up from the table, Shizuo met brown eyes looking right back at him, the figure no longer in school uniform. His bag wasn't with him either. What was the other doing? But before the other could ask, Kasuka went to put on some shoes. 

"I couldn't sleep, so I did my homework. I'm going out." Shizuo finally blinked, his burning eyes given mercy. 'Going.... out?' Shizuo actually snapped out of his daze at that moment. Turning to the front door, Shizuo watched as Kasuka put on his shoes. Once again his outfit complimenting him.

"You're going out?" It was a stupid question to ask, but he did either way. "With who? Where?" He wasn't invading his brothers privacy by asking those questions, right?

Once done with properly placed on boots, Kasuka turned to his older brother, hand inside his pocket playing with his own pair of keys that happened to belong to the front and back of the house. 

"Messing by the market. With some friends. Won't be out long." The way he said it sounded weird, but Shizuo understood what his brother had said, and watched as the door shut behind his brother, the house basked in silence for the umpteenth time. Guess he wasn't spending time with his brother today either. The faux blood bathed in the uncomfortable atmosphere, fingers drumming against the kotatsu, the minutes passing by agonizingly slow, before Shizuo abruptly stood up, and went for his phone, and found it in the pocket of his school bag, and took it out, throwing himself on the couch. Looking through contacts, Shizuo found a certain brunette's number and reluctantly pressed on it, before sending a quick message.

4:23 [Shizuo to Dip Shit: Yo. What time do we meet up at the park?] 

Before he could regret it, it was sent, and Shizuo silently waited for an answer, listening to the ticking of the clock as he stared up at the white ceiling. He's been doing that a lot today; staring at white things. Surprisingly, the teen didn't have to wait long for a reply from the other, his phone buzzing as he looked at the text that was sent from the brunette freak.

4:25 [Dip Shit: 4:40]

Holy mother of fuck he only had fifteen minutes! Staring wide eyes at the time on the wall, the blond jumped off the couch and let his phone hit the floor, as he ran up the stairs and bursts into his room, looking through his clothes. Finding a light blue button up and black pants, Shizuo changed quickly, when he got embarrassed as he had put on his pants inside out and had to take them off to put them on properly. A belt soon followed after his shirt was tucked, and wallet and keys were soon put into his pocket. He had to dive down to look for his phone that had fallen under the couch, and was out the door in less than five minutes. He should have brushed his hair when he had finished brushing his teeth, but it was too late for that. 

4:29 [ Shizuo to Dip Shit: what park?] 

It wouldn't be a surprise that it was at the park by the five way west exit intersection, but he still continued to the main roads. Once again, he didn't have to wait long to receive a reply. 

4:30 [Dip Shit: By the west exit intersection]

Not a surprise that he was right.

The walk there was normal. Business women and men walking to and fro, other teenagers, birds. Nothing worth to describe.

When the park came into view, it was easy to see the group, as they were sitting by the gate, causing havoc. It was a wonder how they hadn't gotten chastised by the District Police. Guess it was easy to spot him, as Shinra started waving at him. 

"Hey, you are five minutes late." 

"Shaddap." Shizuo grumbled with his hands buried in his pockets.

With hands in pockets, Erika and Yumasaki stood up from their seat on the floor and they stretched, before they continued discussing about some unimportant things, and Shizuo easily fell into conversation with Kadota and Shinra, as they waited for the light to turn red for them to walk across and they took the same route that they had taken the day before. 

Again, it didn't surprise him that he was right one again, about the show being a cover up. Maybe it was a show, but not in the park. Shizuo didn't want to know what kind of show it was. All he knew was that it was a show. Shizuo also didn't see himself going back there, or back at all. It was a wonder why he was walking with them back to the warehouse that made him extremely uncomfortable and paranoid. Was it better than being alone at home? He soon remembered his thoughts from before and decided that an hour there wouldn't kill him. 

Hopefully.

The walk also seemed shorter, so the nerves overcame Shizuo quicker. Walking into that strictly narrow alley made his heartbeat quicken- and maybe he should have stayed home alone. 

When they reached the other side, the 'courtyard' that connected the other surrounding buildings seemed a lot bigger than before, even though it was filled with even more people than last. Some girls were in short skirts and Shizuo had to turn his red face away and pretended to not see a thing. He had to ignore the _indecency_ , but that was proving to be hard. Hurriedly entering the main warehouse, there was more furniture than before, and the music wasn't blasting as loud as it had been, so it was less harsh on the blinds ears, which was a relieving. Something the blond hadn't been expecting was to be pushed to a table, in which he, Kadota, and Shinra sat at, while the other two walked away looking for someone else. Apparently, the two were tired, but they usually came to 'The House', and they decided to tag along, as they didn't want to miss anything that happened at the krawler while thy were gone. Just hearing them being so devoted to coming to this place had sent a chill down Shizuo's back, thrumming the table under his fingertips. It was crazy how addicted people got to these places.

Shinra's face soon lit up, and he jumped up and ran away from the table, a loud yell emitting from his lips. 

"Celty!" Shines ran into the crowd, seeing someone or something in the crowd, and he never came back. Kadota had been dragged away by Erika, and soon enough Shizuo was alone, in less than three minutes. The uncomfortable feeling hit him harder than ever, and he stared at the table under, really wishing that he had stayed at home. Everyone had left him, and he knew no one else here. Who the hell was he supposed to be with n-

"Shizu-chan!" Shizuo tensed up at the nickname and growled as the table was kicked by a foot, while a figure took a seat across from him. With a glare, mocha eyes met vermillion, and Shizuo instantly scowled. Okay, anyone but this shit. Please.

"Don't fucking call me that." 

"What are you doing here all lonely?" That bastard ignored him.

"Go away."

"Aw, Shizu-chan. And here I thought you came to see me~."

"Fuck off."

"You dodn't seem too happy to be here, ne?" Izaya placed his elbows on the table, resting his head on his hands, his head slightly tilted and looking straight into Shizuo's eyes with those cursed red orbs. A foot from below stretched and kicked him on the hip, causing the other to jump, and Izaya just laughed. A finger came down the the shiny surface of the table, tracing out the patterns, and then mindless drawing squares and circles. "C'mon. Follow me." Izaya easily stood up from the stool and started walking through the crowd. Shizuo doesn't know exactly why, but he stood up and followed the raven, when he could be waiting for the others that probably wouldn't come back for him. 

They walked through the front door to the outside of the warehouse, and through the courtyard to one of the red bricked buildings on the side. Shizuo noticed that the teens that had been out there just minutes before were all gone, either back home or inside the warehouse. Most of the widows from the building were boarded up and spray painted on. 'Or in there' Shizuo thought faintly. With a little run and a short jump, Izaya braced his hand on the night windowsill of the un-boarded window and threw his legs over, landing gracefully on the inside of the building and turned to wait for the blond. Shizuo, in turn, just walked up placed both hands on the window sill and heaved himself up, taking more time then the raven had, but the other has had undoubtedly more practice so it's fair. 

"The fuck we going in here for." The faux blond groaned as he dusted his pants of, and looked up to see Izaya crossing the abandoned building, not caring if he stepped in dirty puddles of water, to the other side of the building. There stood a somewhat rusted door that was pulled open with a loud grunt from the door, and behind stood a staircase.

"We're going up."

They only climbed four flights of stairs, to see another equally rusted door as it was pushed open, revealing a flat roof that didn't have a railing surrounding the edges. Anyone that trips and falls with either be killed or break some bone in their body. The roof was empty, and the concrete was slightly dirty after so much use over the years, but apart from that, it looked like any other roof he'd seen on a building before. 

Izaya took a seat on the ledge, letting his feet dangle while he put his weight on the two hands that were supporting him on the concrete behind him, his head up facing the sky and his eyes closed.

"You plan on standing there all day or...?" 

Snapping out of his gaze, Shizuo sighed and hesitantly sat next to the raven, keeping at least a foot distance between them. 

"Why?"

"Eh?"

"I mean why take me up here? Why did you even approach me?" After the words were said, Izaya once again laid his head back, a smile on his face as he kept his eyes closed, humming slightly at the cool breeze that washed over them. Birds not too far from them were fighting over some kind of food in their beaks, a mess of wings and feathers and their flimsy feet. Faint yelling from inside the warehouse could be heard too, and slowly, Shizuo's shoulders relaxed, also bracing himself up with his hands behind him on the hot concrete, but he kept his gaze downwards, his eyes directed on a particular dark spot on the floor below. 

"You were uncomfortable, no?"

At the words, Shizuo snapped his head up, looking at the raven who kept his same posture, and that was when Shizuo realized what the other was wearing. 

The glasses from before were on his face again, and his hair was pinned back from his forehead with a clip he sees girls wearing at school. He wore a shirt that had its sleeves cut right off once again, and a necklace hung around his neck with a pretty key, and as it moved it caught the sunlight and give it a soft glow. The raven also wore black pants that were also tight on him, but they weren't low like before. The silver rings were back on his index fingers, and a few bracelets surrounded his pale skin, pooling at his thin wrists. The image once again on a carefree teenager, reminding Shizuo once again about where he was and who he was with. Forcing his gaze away, Shizuo stared at the dark spot in the ground below, his thoughts frozen as he waited for an answer from someone he shouldn't even be with. If he ever got caught here with these people, he would disappoint his family so much, it just hurt thinking about it.

"There is no point spending your time in a place you don't feel welcome, now is there?" The voice rang, slightly echoing around them. "Don't push yourself to do things you don't want to. If you feel better in your comfort zone, just stay there." Shizuo never knew he would hear something smart from those sick lips of the other's.

"I guess not..."

It was silent for a bit between them, just the breeze and the sound on birds flying overhead the only thing. People calmed down in the warehouse below, and their breaths were covered by the sound of the breeze hitting objects as it picked up.

"Why do you come here then?" This time the words were aimed at the blond with its user looking at him, his head tilted to the sight, curiosity clear in his words. It struck a few thoughts to the blond, his eyes furrowing as he gaze hardened at the flood below.

Why did he come here? Was he trying to prove something to himself? Was he trying to get caught? Did he want to learn things he has never known before?

"I don't know... I guess.... maybe- I think it's because it's so..." So what? What would he say? Lonely? Shizuo never thought of it like that, he never had to even really think about that word in his and Kasuka's relationship. Was that really what it was? Because his brother lately has been going out with others instead of staying home with him? He is happy that his little bro made friends, that he has people to talk to other than him but, Shizuo didn't really see why he shoul- "Lonely."

"Hmmm."

When the silence set back in, Shizuo could only shiver, despite it not being cold. The word left a rather bitter taste on his tongue.

"I don't blame you." Izaya whispered, kicking his feet in the open air under him, a hand coming up to brush the hair that got into eyes once escaping the clip in his hair. "A lot of people here only come because they have no one else at home." With those words, Izaya let his arms behind him collapse and he hit the concrete with a loud thump, his arms spread wide beside him once he fixed his hair, clipping his bangs in the silver clip. "Some come because they want more freedom." His wrinkles in his shirt were smoothed out as he ran a hand down his chest and stomach, and leaving it a little higher from his pelvis, looking up at the bright light overhead. "Some come because they need to set themselves free from a boring black and white backdrop." 

The last few words hung in the air around them, and Shizuo looked over his shoulder to see a completely lethargic Izaya.

_Some come because they need to set themselves free from a boring black and white backdrop._

Shizuo thought of the raven's words, thinking about the lives of others, how much they could differ from his own, the different things that they do during the smart, and thinking about how those without siblings went about their day.

"What exactly do you do?" Shizuo felt himself saying, with his arms behind his head, starring up at the blinding light against the blue sky. The sun hung over them, and soon a hand blocked the light, as Shizuo extended his hand, as if trying to grab the bright orb.

"Exactly what you are doing."

Shizuo looked over at Izaya who had his eyes on his hand, before extending his own hand, trying himself to catch the orb that was too far away. Confusion the only emotion in the blond until he saw what he meant. 

"We try to do things that seem impossible. We appreciate the lost things in society. Music, sports, art, hell, even culinary. We embrace people's differences, backgrounds, and even sexual orientation. We are all the same past the interests and hobbies." Closing his hand as if he had finally caught the orb of a thousand stars, "We are all the same. We all breath and have hearts beating in our chests." Blinking, the raven shook his head violently, as if trying to shake something off. "We will always have haters. What the government is doing isn't right. They are taking away so many privileges, so many things that make a human, human, you know, it's....." Izaya fist came down with a soft thud onto his chest, his eyes staring up as if he were staring into the future.

"All we want is a world without war and where people are free to express themselves..." the words were said quietly, but nonetheless the blond heard them.

The wind whistled silently past them, rustling their hair, as they both sat mute and watched as the clouds passed slowly, and the sun slowly dimming behind buildings. Shizuo lost time, lost in his thoughts, thinking about what the delinquent beside him had told him. He pointed out good things about these people, but them he chastised himself, because these people were dissidents. They were called Dissidents for a reason. They went against authorities, caused trouble, illegal activities always going on at their hangout places. It was a wonder why Shinra had even brought him here before, but then the raven's words passed him mind. They gave everyone a chance, never left anyone out. They didn't force anyone either. The thoughts clashed and crashed at each other, and it wasn't until the raven sat up that Shizuo realized the time.

The light baby blue of the sky dimmed to a medium pantone blue, the clouds all clamped together, creating something that resembled a soft white puffy blanket. Izaya stretched, his back popping in which he groaned, and then rolled his neck side to side, that too, popping. Hands traveled under a shirt, staying at the stomach, slightly rubbing as the framed boy yawned. Izaya looked over his shoulder, a smirk playing at his lips as he looked from his eyes to his stomach and back up.

"You hungry?" His eyes seemed to gleam in knowing, and it took the blond a few seconds to realize what he had asked.

"Yea, kinda, why?" Shizuo instantly suspiciously looked at the weirdo, but the other only laughed. Two hands went to run at the eyes under black frames, the smirk still dancing on elegant lips.

"Your stomach startled me when I was about to fall asleep." Izaya snickered as the blond instantly got red and hugged his stomach, as if trying to hide the skin that wasn't visible under the shirt. Shizuo almost jumped out of his skin as something in a package was thrown at him, and he eyes again with renewed suspicion, and once again the other laughed at the blond's antics. "Don't worry, it's not poison. Try it." Shizuo only glared at the rectangular package, as if he could make it disappear solely because of his glare. He just didn't like the look of it. "Oh common, it won't kill you. You seem like the kind of person who would like this. Personally, it's too sweet for me." Izaya watched as the blond continued to glare at it, and rolled his eyes at the stupidity of the other's "well? Go on." 

Hesitantly, the blond picked up the rectangular shaped package and opened it slowly to only stare at something dark and thin. 

"What the fuck is this s-"

"Just try it you sissy."

That didn't convince the other any more, as the blond looked over at the raven with a glare that could probably kill, if looks could kill.

"Listen, if you don't like it, I'll let you punch me. Anywhere, and as hard as you want, but just try it!" The bargain was risky, but as much as the rectangular thing in front of him scared him, the thought of punching the raven entertained him enough that he took a tentative bite at the brown.... thing.

The moment his tongue touched the bar looking thing, a moan practically escaped the blond, and a burst of laughter accompanied it. Shizuo didn't even spare a look at the weirdo, and just took a bigger bite of that deliciousness, and instantly his shoulders relaxed and his eyes closed, and he savored the flavor. Fuck, he didn't know what he was eating but it was fucking good.

"That good huh? Told you you'd like it." Izaya kicked out his foot and hit the blond over the knee as he ate, to only get his foot shoved off, causing the raven to chuckle. Izaya only watched as he once again let his legs hang over the edge of the building they were on. Shizuo really liked it, and he had no idea what he was eating, and the raven only snorted at the thought.

"It's called chocolate, incase if you were wondering." 

The blond didn't even respond. He only took another big bite of the bar before him.

"I didn't know how you'll react to this, but it's banned. Your eating something illegal." At the words, Shizuo's eyes immediately opened and looked over at the culprit of a chuckle, and then looked down at that deliciousness. "Common didn't worry. No one will tell. No one will know." Izaya's playful face turned into something that could be referred to as erotic in less than a second. Hooded eyes and lips slightly parted as he practically shoved his face closely to the blond's, "I mean, unless you plan on having someone's tongue shoved down your throat later tonight..." Instantly Shizuo gave himself and Izaya a few feet of distance in between, in which only entertained the raven even more.

"You need to learn about what we normal people call personal space." Shizuo's face looked scandalized, face full of pure horror.

"Izaya." A voice interrupted the teen as he was about to part his lips to make fun of the other, but paused to look over at the female standing at the front door of the warehouse, her face full of seriousness. Her short hair and well sculpted body didn't make her look any less intimidating. 

"Something went wrong at the front lines. There's also trouble brooding on Sunshine. _They're_ looking for you." 

The words echoed against the buildings, the outside unusually quite compared to the first day the blond was there. He looked over at Izaya, and his smirk had completely dropped from his face, his eyes downcast at a certain red spot the blond had been staring at himself before. 

"Okay. I'll be there in a second." With the words, the female turned to go back in but was stopped by the framed teen once again. "Don't tell Shiki though. He has enough on his plate at the moment." The female did nothing to confirm that she heard what Izaya had told her, but instead she just walked right back in, the door shutting right behind her. Not a second later, Izaya himself stood up, sighing as he did so.

"I have to go take care of something. Feel free to eat all of that, just, don't get sick. You are free to join the others back inside as well, but I don't think you would want to." Rubbing his glasses clean and placing them back onto his nose, Izaya looked down that blond who had taken another bite of the chocolate bar. "See you tomorrow though. Maybe." The last part was quiet, and at first Shizuo thought that it was his imagination, but Izaya defiantly had said that. 

Instead of taking the stairs back down, he walked over to the edge of the building and jumped off, very close to giving a heart attack to Shizuo, but the thump of the other landing onto another roof only told him that the other made it safely, and soon enough he saw the other walk into the warehouse without another look behind him. 

It wasn't until the door clicked shut that a thought struck the blond.

What did the girl mean about these 'front lines'? And who is ' _they're_ '?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for such boring chapter!
> 
> See a grammar mistake? Notify me!

**Author's Note:**

> I hoped you like the first chapter! Sorry if it was boring and maybe too short, but I promise that the usual chapters will be TWICE (if not more) this size, if not more. I pulled a few different book ideas in my schools 'ZUTE' to come up with this, so pardon me if it comes by as shaggy. 
> 
> |Will be TRYING to update once a month unless said otherwise!| This book is updated 10x faster on my Wattpad, with already four more chapters up. Hopefully I can upload them all onto here quickly.
> 
> See a grammar mistake? Notify me!


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